The Lost Princess
by Krystal Lily Potter
Summary: She wanted to know who she was. He wanted to get away from the life he was living. Nothing in life comes easily though, as they both know, especially when their horrible pasts and their cloudy futures are more intertwined than they thought.
1. Prologue

**The Lost Princess**

_Prologue_

There was a time, not very long ago, when the world was a much brighter place. Our lives were filled with glamorous parties, glimmering lights, glinting jewels, fine dresses, much respect, but most importantly, our lives were filled with laughter and smiles. It was such a happy time for our family, and for our people.

My son, Ansem was a brilliant man who enjoyed research, and he liked nothing more than to make advancements to help his people. He ruled Radiant Garden as a good King, who was never cruel. His lovely wife, Giselle, while not nearly as interested in science as he was, did have the natural ability to keep him on track with all of his other duties when he tended to focus on his research a little too much. She was known for her beauty, her grace and her smile.

Together, they gave me four beautiful granddaughters and one charming grandson. The eldest of them was my stunning granddaughter Aurora. She had a charm all of her own, and enjoyed nature, often taking walks whenever she could. She loved the creatures of the forest, and in turn, they seemed to respond to her just as well. She was always happiest singing and dancing in nature.

Larxene was my next granddaughter. She was a little more cool and calculating than her elder sister, and she enjoyed teasing others. She liked to spend time with one of the servants that had befriended her, Marluxia. He was our gardener, so she spent much of her time in the gardens, learning about the plant life. She was the most playful out of all our granddaughters, and she was given the nickname 'Nymph'.

Ariel was a free spirited girl with a love for the water. She was an excellent swimmer, and enjoyed our summer trips to the coastal beaches. She was fascinated with the ocean and its creatures, even going as far as to have an aquarium built for her crab and fish she dubbed Sebastian and Flounder. The water was where she was most at home.

My youngest grandchild, and only grandson, was little Axel. He was a little troublemaker, and was fascinated by anything that was combustible. He enjoyed curling up by the fire with his mother, staring into its burning blaze for hours at a time. He also used to tag along behind his father when he would be doing some experiments that involved fireworks or burning chemicals. We often used to joke that he would be put away as a pyromaniac when he was older, but he was always just a curious little boy.

My youngest granddaughter was a few years older than Axel. She was always smiling and enjoyed singing to herself, and dancing with her father. She was the dreamer of all of our grandchildren, constantly asking questions about the rest of the world. She was also the one who would quickly rush to me whenever I came to their home. Kairi was, without admittance, my favorite of my grandchildren.

As the former Queen of Radiant Garden, I had given up the throne after my husband had passed away and my son was old enough to rule. After that, I lived mostly in a beautiful place called Destiny Islands, but I came home to see my son and his family quite often.

It was such a happy time for most of us. There were some that did not hold such warmth for our family though. One such person had been one of my son's apprentices, a young man named Xehanort.

Xehanort was ambitious when he came to my son. Overly so at times. He pushed my son's research, wanting to go farther than Ansem was willing to go with experiments. My son was never cruel, and would never harm a person with his experiments, but Xehanort was different. Some of his suggestions disgusted my son, and he banished him from the castle. There was something unsettling in the air after that though.

It wasn't until years later that it was discovered that he had traded his own heart to the darkness for the power to destroy my son's life for ruining his ambitions, his desires.

We were celebrating the 300th year of the Hart dynasty over Radiant Garden, all thoughts of the terrible Xehanort fleeing from our lives for a moment. The palace was alive with Lords and Ladies, Dukes and Duchesses, and high classed friends of the family. It was a glowing celebration of brightly colored dresses, polite gentlemen, and sparkling jewels. Music floated through the air as couples danced, enjoying their lively surroundings.

That was the night that set in motion the destruction of everything that I held dear was lost to me...

**VVVVVVVVVV**

A tall, regal woman with her blonde hair held up in a perfect bun walked gracefully into the ballroom, enjoying the sounds of the music, dancing and laughter. Her green eyes took in the people with a warm smile as she made her way over to the throne that was put there for her. She wasn't getting any younger, after all.

Looking out at the crowd, she could see her granddaughter, Aurora dressed in a gown that seemed to change from blue to pink and back as she moved, dancing with a particularly handsome man. From the stories that had been told to her, she imagined that this young man went by the name Philip.

Larxene was a little farther away, her shorter hair lying straight, yet she still looked elegant with her black dress. She was speaking to several other people, laughing with that teasing grin of hers. However, when someone would bump into her, she would send him or her a scathing glare.

Ariel, in a lovely pink dress that had been made for her, was engaged with a black haired boy her age. Her grandmother knew that this was Eric, whom Ansem was leaning towards a possible marriage with his young daughter one day.

Little Axel, who was but five, clung to his mother's hand as he watch the people twirl and spin around him. He had been dancing with his mother (or rather, she'd been dancing while holding him), but he seemed to be growing tired and wary of the people around him.

Her eyes focused on her son, who was dancing with his youngest daughter. Kairi was laughing happily, her deep crimson hair flying around her face as her father lifted her into the air and spun around. Her purple dress sparkled in the light, and the smile never left her face. She gave her father a kiss on the cheek before quickly running up to her grandmother.

The older woman couldn't help but be proud of her grandchildren. The two eldest had the same blonde hair as their father did, and the other three various shades of red from their mother's side of the family. While Giselle's hair was more of an orange color, Ariel and Axel's were a bright, vibrant shade of red, and Kairi's was a deep crimson. All of the children had variations of their mother's blue eyes, except for Larxene and Axel, who had inherited her vibrant green orbs.

"Grandma," Kairi said happily as she hugged the older woman.

The two were so focused on each other that they didn't notice a young boy with spiky, dark brown hair looking around the corner at them curiously. His cerulean blue eyes focused on Kairi for a split second before he blushed deeply and bit the apple that he pulled from his old, worn, yet baggy, clothes.

"Do you have to go back to Destiny Islands?" Kairi asked her sadly.

"Yes, my dear," the old woman said. "And I will miss you greatly, but I have a gift for you that may make the separation easier." Out of her jeweled handbag, she pulled out an object the size of her hand. It appeared to be made from sparkling seashells, but they were much too thick to be made from such a thing.

"Is it a charm?" Kairi asked her curiously.

The little boy with the blue eyes had been leaning around to get a closer look when one of the other servants saw him and quickly grabbed him. "Sora! You're supposed to be working in the kitchen!" But neither of them noticed that event.

"No," her grandmother answered. "It's a secret for you and I to share."

She took out a necklace that too was shaped as a seashell. She placed it into a little nook in the middle of the crown that lay at the center of the shells. The top of the charm lifted up slightly and twisted, making a ten-pointed star instead of a five pointed one, and a song started to play.

"It's our lullaby," Kairi said happily as she hummed the tune.

"Time may come to pass, but you need to see, we cannot separate, because you're part of me, even if you're invisible, you're love is not unseen..." they sang together. Kairi giggled a bit as she took the charm into her hands and took the necklace out of it.

"It looks like there's something on the back of it," Kairi said suddenly while staring at the necklace.

Her grandmother chuckled and said, "Take a closer look."

Kairi brought the pendant closer to her face and read, "Destiny's intertwine at Destiny Islands."

"Legend says that the Islands were given their name because that's where destiny itself acts the strongest. We will always be together my little Kairi, because our destiny's will always be a part of each other."

Kairi smiled warmly at her grandmother and hugged her tightly. Neither of them noticed that Sora had sneaked back into the room, hiding slightly behind the throne and staring at them curiously.

There was a sudden bang as a scream was heard. Kairi whipped around and her grandmother held her close, a look of terror passing through her green eyes.

A figure in a dark cloak approached, but they could still see the man's face. He had long, silver hair and tanned skin, and while his eyes were the same color as King Ansem's, there was a vicious evilness to them that the King's did not have. As he walked forward, people quickly backed away from him. He positively reeked of darkness.

"How dare you return here?" Ansem yelled as the rest of his family gathered behind him.

"But I am you're humble apprentice," Xehanort said evenly.

"You are nothing more than a monster, a murderer," Ansem snapped. "And you are not welcomed here. I banished you from this castle already, but now I banish you from my kingdom."

"No," Xehanort snarled. "No, you will not. Riku, bring me my keyblade."

A young boy, perhaps a few years older than Kairi, quickly stumbled forward. He, like Xehanort, had silver hair, but his eyes were an almost lime-green color. He looked at Ansem almost apologetically before opening a long, thin box he had with him and passing Xehanort it's contents: a black, vicious-looking blade in the shape of the most deadly key any of them had ever seen.

Sora stared at them with a bit of terror, but he was a servant who was raised to serve the royal family. Should one of them attack the Princess and the former Queen, he was ready to jump in front of them.

Xehanort pointed the blade at Ansem and said, "I banish you, Ansem, with a curse. You and all of your family shall die." The keyblade started glowing with a poisonous purple and black mixture, and black shadows seemed to shoot out of it. They sailed around the room, destroying the windows, and one of the chandeliers fell to the floor, shards flying everywhere.

"Seize him!" Ansem yelled and the guards rushed towards Xehanort. The man just laughed wickedly and with a flash of darkness, he and the little boy, Riku, were gone.

**VVVVVVVVVV**

I will never forget that day, but it would never be what I'd call the most horrible day of my life. For days after Xehanort confronted my son, there was a growing tension amongst our subjects. Anger towards the royal family was the most common of all emotions plaguing Radiant Garden.

It was because of this that my family, in silence, started making escape plans. Ansem didn't even want the guards to know that our entire family was to be relocated until the unsettling darkness passed. Unfortunately, these plans never were carried out.

Larxene, believing that the gardener Marluxia was her friend, had told him of the plan in good faith that he would keep the secret quiet. He didn't though. He knowingly told our enemies of our family's plans to escape. This alone was enough to anger the people from protesting our rule to become violent instead.

My poor Larxene was the first to die. She found out that it was Marluxia who betrayed them, and she confronted him. The person who she thought was her friend had killed her, and his allies vowed to kill the rest of our family...

**VVVVVVVVVV**

Screams echoed throughout the halls as the gates out front were finally broken. People were running through the halls, rushing to escape the mob of people that were coming towards the palace.

Giselle held Axel in her arms as she rushed ahead with Aurora and Ariel at her sides. Ansem had told them all to run, as he planned to stay behind to distract the rioters. He had said his farewells, knowing that he was never going to see his family again.

Kairi, who was running beside her grandmother, suddenly stopped and, in a panicked tone, said, "My charm!"

"Kairi!" her grandmother yelled in horror and ran after her granddaughter.

Kairi rushed through the empty halls and into her room. She moved passed her large dollhouse, quickly over to the spot where she had left her musical charm. The necklace had never left her neck, but the music box was too big to carry around with her all of the time.

"Kairi," her grandmother gasped as she ran into the room. "We must leave, now." There was a loud bang from down the hallway, and she quickly shut the door. Through the window, they could see the fire that was burning in another part of the castle.

Neither of them noticed the wall shift a bit, nor did they notice Sora peak around the corner. They could hear the men shouting and moving around farther down the hall.

"Here!" Sora said quickly as he came out of his hiding place. He grabbed the former Queen by the arm and started bringing her towards the wall. "Hurry, take the servant's corridors. It'll lead you out of the palace safely." As he pushed Kairi into the passage, the charm that had been pushed into her pocket fell out and onto the ground.

"My charm," Kairi said with panic as she tried to get back into the room, but Sora shoved her back through the door, closing it as soon as she was through the entrance. As he closed it and turned around, the door burst open and a soldier came through it.

"Where are they, boy?" he asked Sora, but he didn't reply. Instead, he grabbed the closest thing to him, one of the dolls that had been thrown carelessly around the room, and threw it at the soldier.

The man grunted angrily and hilt of his sword against Sora's head, causing the boy to fall to the ground, his hand landing just on top of the star-shaped, shell charm.

**VVVVVVVVVV**

Kairi and her grandmother managed to navigate through the servant's corridors quickly enough. They soon got outside and started running across the cold ground. It didn't stay cold for long in Radiant Garden, but the month of winter they did have was bitterly cold.

"Hurry," her grandmother urged her on.

Above them, on a bridge over stretching the frozen river, Xehanort was smirking at the destruction that he had caused. Riku glanced down and said, "Master! She's escaping!"

Xehanort looked down and saw the youngest granddaughter running with her grandmother. He had no clue how they had even managed to get out of the castle, because her mother and her other siblings had fallen before even reaching the doors of the castle. Still, this would not due. The girl had to go.

He jumped from his spot on top of the bridge and grabbed a hold of Kairi's legs. The girl let out a scream and her grandmother yelled, "Xehanort!"

"Let me go!" Kairi screamed as she kicked her legs wildly.

Xehanort held on to her legs tightly as he grabbed for his Keyblade, but something odd happened. The dark keyblade was thrown away from him, and from the point where his skin touched the young girl's, he started burning. He could feel light pulsating from her, and it hurt the darkness that made him.

He yelled in pain as there was a bright flash of light, and his body started jerking, slowly vanishing. Kairi's grandmother helped her to her feet and they started running again.

Riku quickly rushed to Xehanort's side and asked, "Master?" But the man disappeared into a pool of darkness with a yell of pain. Riku stared at the spot the man had been before looking at the fallen keyblade, not quite sure what to do.

**VVVVVVVVVV**

"Hurry Kairi," her grandmother urged her as they rushed towards the already moving train. "Hurry."

A few of the men on the end of the train helped the older woman up, and then she held her hand out to Kairi, "Quickly, take my hand."

Kairi grabbed her hand, tears welding up in her eyes as she did so. "Don't let go."

Unfortunately, the train was picking up speed, and with a scream from the young girl, Kairi's hand slipped from her grandmother's, and she fell backwards, slamming her head onto the ground and falling unconscious.

"Kairi!" her grandmother screamed, but one of the men stopped her from jumping off of the train as it picked up speed. "Kairi!"

**VVVVVVVVVV**

That was the last I ever saw of my little Kairi. News was quick to reach me, and I found out that my son, my daughter-in-law, and all of my grandchildren were dead. Still, rumors remained that Kairi had survived, but no one knew for sure. I vowed to try and find my granddaughter if she was still alive, and since that day hundreds upon hundreds of people showed up, claiming to be her.

It's been ten years, and not a day goes by where I don't think of the horrible events of that day. I always wonder what possessed people to harm innocent children. They were only young when their lives were taken from them. Some had feared that they would grow and want revenge or to rule, but they were still just children.

So many lives were lost that day, and since then, my life has been shrouded in nothing but darkness...

**VVVVVVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

I wanted to try something a little bit different. This is a spin-off of the movie created by 20th Century Fox, Anastasia, which was loosely based on the myths that Anastisia Romanov survived when her family did not.

The movie, Anastasia, is one of my all-time favorite animated movies. It is, in my opinion, the only animated movie by another company that can stand up against the Disney classics, and it's much better than any of the unnecessary sequels that Disney had made.

Although this will follow the movie very closely in some parts, other parts are going to become very different, I promise you that. Some lines are word for word from the movie I believe, but I'm doing this all from memory.

Remember to review!

_**Krystal Lily Potter  
**_


	2. A Rumour

_**The Lost Princess**_

_Chapter One – A Rumour_

"Did you hear?" an old woman whispered to her friend.

"Hear what?" the old man replied eagerly. Their lives were consumed by work throughout most of the day, so any little bit of gossip was welcomed.

The woman looked around for a moment and said, "You didn't hear it from me, but there are people saying that Princess Kairi survived."

"Really?" a nearby listener asked. "That sounds like rubbish to me. The girl was what, eight when it happened? No way an eight-year-old could survive when no one was taking prisoners. They even killed the five-year-old."

"I don't know," another woman said. "The boy's body was found with his sister, but if the girl wasn't with the rest of the family, she was small enough to hide. You must have heard about how the Grandmother escaped, right?"

"Not like anyone had to worry about the old coot anyway," the old man said. "She was no threat to them. She did escape though, and she's offering a huge reward if someone can find the girl."

"So that means that the former Queen must know something nobody else does," the first woman said with a nod. "She must have had Princess Kairi with her, but then they got separated somehow."

"Maybe."

They all quickly stopped talking as one of the guards passed by them. The current government held no love for the former royal family, not even talk about them. Most people believed that it was simple just a political revolution that destroyed the Hart family, but there was a few out there that knew the political unrest had occurred because of a dark curse.

None of the gossiping people noticed a boy with spiky, blond hair listening to them. His cerulean eyes flickered towards them for a moment as he waited, listening to see if they would start talking again. They did, but this time it was about how the winters seemed to be longer than normal now. He rolled his eyes and quickly got up, walking away from them. They did have a point though, because he remembered that winter only lasted about a month ten years ago, not four months like it did now.

He pushed passed the people in the busy streets, burying his hands into his pockets with his eyes turned to the ground. As he was walking, he thought he heard a 'pssst', but he ignored it until he heard someone say, "Rox!"

He looked around quickly and saw a boy the same age as him with light brown hair that was spikier than his. The young man motioned for the first young man to follow him, and they started moving down the street, whispering quietly.

"Did you book the theatre, Roxas?"

"Everything's all set to go," Roxas said while nodding his head. "You know you can count of me. After all, if you can't count on your twin, who can you count on, right Sora?"

Sora nodded his head in agreement. Sora and Roxas Keys were twin brothers who were almost identical. The only physical difference between them was their hair, and their voices were different. Their personalities though, while they had their similar points, were like day and night. Roxas thought things through, and was better at working quietly and pulling strings from the background. He was more rational than his brother, but he also tended to become angry quicker, and he held grudges longer. Sora was the one who jumped into things head first without thinking. He was the leader of the two, per say, the one who would take the lead role in their latest scheme. With his goofy smile, and his ability to not get angry quickly, he was the perfect leading man for the role that needed to be played.

"Great," Sora said happily. "Now all we need is the girl."

Roxas hesitated for a moment before saying, "I don't know Sor, do you really think this is right? Tricking the former Queen into believing that we found Princess Kairi? Isn't it a little..."

"Wrong? Dishonorable? Terrible?" Sora suggested. "You know it is. Think about it though. If she never finds out that the girl isn't Kairi, she'll be happy, the girl will be happy because she'll be treated like a princess, and we'll be happy because we'll be rich. Ten million munny, Rox."

"Split three ways," Roxas added.

"Well, yes, but it's still a lot. You know this is the perfect con, bro." Sora reached into his pocket and pulled out a charm that appeared to be made out of seashells in the shape of a star. "Besides, once dear-old grandma sees this, she'll believe us."

Roxas eyed it for a moment before looking at Sora again and asking, "How do you know this is really that important?"

Sora looked at the charm in his hand, a memory flashing before his eyes quickly. He never told his brother exactly how the Princess had escaped. Roxas had no clue that the real Princess Kairi could very well be alive. He was agreeing to go along with his brother's crazy scheme because he, like so many others, believed that she had actually perished that night. He always did like the stories about her being alive though.

For also Sora knew, maybe he really was dead. All he knew was that she wouldn't have died in the palace. Servants rarely used what was dubbed the servants corridors. Sora had only discovered them while sneaking around the castle. He could still remember the Princess trying to run back into her room to get the charm, so he knew it was important to her.

Part of him felt a little bad, because they were going to try to find a girl to act as the Princess to get her grandmother's money when he knew that the real Princess could very well be alive. If he were stuck in a country where the government would kill him on sight because he had the last name Hart, he would hide too, if that's what she was doing. Her grandmother was in Destiny Islands though, which would have been a safe place for her to be.

Roxas took Sora's silence for an 'I don't know' answer and dropped the question. During the siege on the palace, he had been safe because their other had forced him to hide, so he hadn't seen as much as his brother had. Never once had he agreed with what they were doing though. His brother, on the other hand, had been found in the Princess's room, unconscious. He had been questioned, but he said that he hadn't seen the princess. He had accidentally ended up in that room while trying to get away from the Hart's so that he wouldn't be killed. A poor choice, he had joked. Still, Roxas knew that it was a lie. He never questioned his brother, but he knew there was more to the story.

"Come on Rox," Sora said while clapping him on the shoulder. "Let's get to the theatre and see what we've got to work with."

Roxas nodded and said, "It's been ten years Sora, and the only thing I remember about the Hart family is that they consisted of blonds and redheads. I remember the smallest one, Axel, was a redhead, and that crazy one, Larxene, was blonde, but aside from that I don't remember the others."

"Aurora was blonde," Sora said as he scrunched up his face. "And Ariel had the same color as Axel, if I remember right, but while Kairi was a redhead too, her hair was darker. It was more of a crimson, almost burgundy color. Haven't you look at the portrait?"

"No, I generally avoid going anywhere else in the palace. So, dark red hair is going to narrow it down some," Roxas said with a nod. "But I suppose we can try to find a way to color the girl's hair if need be. And the eyes? I remember Ansem having freaky orange eyes"

Sora thought back for a moment, but not about the color of Imperial King Ansem's eyes. He could clearly remember the exact shade of Princess Kairi's eyes. They were a bright shade of indigo most of the time, but he remembered in the bright light of the fires outside, her eyes had been a much paler shade of blue. He quickly shook his head and said, "Blue."

"Alright," Roxas nodded. "And she was our age, right?"

"She was eight when the revolution started," Sora answered. "So a year younger than us."

Roxas made a quick note of that before looking up at the sky and saying, "It's hard to believe it's been ten years."

"Ten years since people thought that our lives would be better without the Harts," Sora muttered. "But things have gotten worse. Look, all people do is work here. You know, it might almost be a good thing the Hart daughters are gone." He saw Roxas' shocked look and held up his hands. "No, not like that. It's just, all of them, even Larxene, loved nature. Imagine if Aurora was here to see the forests torn down for more industrial buildings, or if Ariel could see everything we've been tossing in the ocean?"

Roxas was silent for a moment before asking, "She had a pet crab, and a pet fish, didn't she? Ariel, that is."

"Yeah," Sora nodded. "You've got all the common facts written down, right?"

"As well as the ones that only people who were in the palace a lot would know."

"Alright. Lead the way to the theater."

**VVVVVVVVVVV**

As a young boy, Sora had indeed been quite the curious child. While he was raised to work in the kitchens with his mother, like his brother was, he had been an adventurous child by nature. Not to say that Roxas wasn't, but as mentioned before, Roxas was the deep thinker of the two, and realized that slacking off on his duties probably wouldn't be a good idea. Sora, as mentioned before, usually tended to leap without looking. He had explored the palace, and had learned not only many secrets about the building itself, but about the family as well.

He had learned that, while Aurora seemed to be perfectly kind to everyone else, behind closed doors she had been rather vain and egotistical. She knew that she was beautiful, more so than many others, and she let it get to her head. He had learned that, while Ariel seemed to be perfectly obedient, she had a rather fiery temper and even though she was only 14, she was known for arguing with her father.

Axel, well he was too young for Sora to really remember. He had never really cared about the younger boy, but it had amused him when, at the age of three, he caught one of the old family tapestries on fire somehow. One of the other servants had taken the blame for it though. That particular servant had been punished but then he vanished. If Sora remembered right, this was around the time when Xehanort started his gruesome experiments on the human heart, so it was easy to guess what happened to the servant.

Out of all of them, Larxene had been the most honest with everyone, per say. She had always shown her real personality and never let what anyone told her bother her.

Kairi, well this princess was the center of all Sora's thoughts recently. Actually, out of all of the royals, she was the one that had always stood out the most to him, even as a child. She was a bit of a wild child, and liked to cause mischief, but when her father told her to stop, she stopped. Sora was using all of the memories that he had to make a convincing Princess Kairi. He was tired of living in the slums of Radiant Garden.

Sora already had a good idea of what he was looking for in his mind, so when the first girl got up on stage with her hyper personality, her flipped brown hair and her happy green eyes, Sora knew that she was a no-go. He crossed her name off of the list automatically because of her looks alone. Sophie or Sally or something like that, oh, he wrote down Selphie.

The next girl up, although she did act more like how Sora imagined the Princess would, she looked strikingly like the first girl, and he assumed that they were related. Olette was quickly crossed off of the list.

The next girl had her back turned to them, and he could feel Roxas sit up a little bit straighter next to him. She was a bit on the skinny side, but that could be easily explained, it was her hair that caught both of their interest. It was long, straight and a deep cherry red. However, the second the girl turned around Sora's face scrunched up and he said, "Next."

"Sora," Roxas hissed at him.

"I don't care if she's got the right hair, the Princess Kairi did not look like a weird cross between a pig and a toad." Yes, he had a very specific image in his mind, and it would at least take several days of failure for him to ease off from that exact image.

On and on the parade of wannabe Kairi's came on the stage, and while Roxas thought a few of them were alright, he generally agreed with his brother. After a few people, he started to formulate what he imaged the Princess would be like now as well, and none of them added up.

The end of the first day of auditions brought out Roxas' bad side quickly. He was already annoyed and angry with their lack of success on their missions. Sora was a little more optimistic, saying that it couldn't get any worse than the 300 pound woman with pitch black hair that had wandered in.

Of course, Sora would quickly change his mind on this fact when the first person the next day was a cross-dressing man. He became equally as frustrated as his brother after that one moment. He knew most people were taking this as a joke, because hundreds of people had already tried to prove that they were the Princess, but the former queen was never fooled. They just assumed that this was exactly like that. It wasn't though. Sora and Roxas both knew about how the royals had acted, about what they did, especially Sora.

By the third day, Sora was beyond frustrated. He was almost certain that they'd never find the right girl to pull off being the princess. Something told him to keep at it though, it was the same feeling he got when he first came up with the plan, the same feeling when he had chosen to save the Queen and the Princess.

He knew he had to do this.

**VVVVVVVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

I'm trying to keep this close to Anastasia, but at the same time I don't want Sora and Kairi to be completely OOC.

And yes, instead of an older friend, I put a twin brother is. I love Roxas too much not to put him in.

It's funny, I like Sora and Roxas the best of all KH characters (Xion's pretty cool, but they're all technically the same person, aren't they?) but the best theme songs in the entire thing belong to Riku and Xion. Xion's Final Battle theme is pretty BA too.

Why do I get the feeling that 358/2 isn't going to be the only time we see Xion again?

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Shire Folk, Chiglet663, Topaz Tsubasa, Trainalf and chasingfireflies (Aka Milk)! You guys all FTW!

Now I have German homework to do so I'll blab some more next time!

**Krystal Lily Potter**


	3. The Journey Begins

**The Lost Princess**

_Chapter Two - The Journey Begins_

The snow fell from the grey sky, falling onto the already thickly covered ground. There had been quite a snowstorm the night before, but luckily it had cleared up. The snowflakes falling to the ground in an almost lazy way, while reflecting the rising sun was one of the most beautiful sights to be seen.

In stark contrast to the brilliant white landscape, a dark and gloomy building stood out, surrounded by metres upon metres of land. In the largest window on what appeared to be the third or fourth story of the house, a bunch of younger children leaned against the window eagerly, all waving or shouting out the window.

An old woman, who was chubby and stout, was talking quickly with a no-nonsense sort of voice, trying to make her point clear.

"Now, you follow the road to the east and when you reach the fork in the road, turn left. That will take you to the fisherman's village where I got you a job, and—"

"Bye everybody!" a much younger, and cheerier voice called out to the children.

"Are you listening to me?" the old woman snapped at the young woman she was speaking to.

"Bye!" she called out to the people again, waving her hands in the air cheerfully.

"Kari!" the old woman yelled.

"I'm listening," the girl named Kari replied back in a rather sarcastic tone, turning her vision back to the old woman. Her deep indigo eyes stared at her woman with a rather disgruntled and annoyed look, and her crimson red hair was tied back so that it looked much shorter than it actually was. She wore baggy clothes with a long, dark blue jacket and pale gray fingerless gloves. The only kind of bright clothing that she had was the pink scarf that the older woman was dragging her by. She loved that scarf because she had made it from the dress she had been wearing when she first came to the orphanage.

It was a part of her past.

"Well what did I say then?"

"Go east, fork in the road, go left. Anything else captain?"

The old woman pursed her lips and said, "You ungrateful little brat. For ten years you've been a thorn in my side, acting like the Queen of Sheba since you were brought here. I've clothed you, fed you, kept a roof over your head--"

Kari rolled her eyes and muttered the last words along with the old woman, who whipped back around to face her twin a stern look. "How is it you remember all that, yet you don't have a clue about who you were before you came to us?"

"I do have a clue though," Kari said as she reached into her shirt and pulled out a necklace with a silver chain and a pendant that looked like a seashell.

"Oh yes," the old woman said sarcastic, "Destiny's intertwine at Destiny Islands, or something like that, right? So you want to go to Destiny Islands to try and find your family?"

Kari nodded her head eagerly and the woman said, "Little Miss Kari, you should be grateful for all you have! Destiny's Islands, bah! You are nothing but a little orphan, and that's all you'll ever be! Be grateful!" The woman suddenly slammed the gates in Kari's face, causing her to scowl as she heard the old woman said, "Destiny's intertwined at Destiny Islands, ha!"

Kari grumbled to herself and started walking down the snow-covered road. "Be grateful, ha!" Her voice rose a little bit. "I am grateful! Grateful to be away!" She continued to mutter to herself unhappily as she walked down the road, kicking at the snow with her black boots.

She walked few a few minutes, grumbling to herself, but she did not let the cold air get her down any more than she already was. She was an upbeat person, even though she had little reason to be.

At the age of eight, she had woken up in the orphanage, and was told that she had been found lying on the ground, unconscious. When they asked her what her name was, she had hesitated. She couldn't remember. She vaguely remembered someone wishing her a happy eighth birthday, and she knew her name was…K…Keria? No, that wasn't why it. Kali? No. Kristen? Kara? Karla? No, no, no. None of them were right. Finally, she had told them that her name was Kari.

Something about that name bothered her too though, but she was sure it was her name, and if not, it was close. Still, she didn't want people to know her uncertainty, so she was almost viciously protective of how people pronounced her name. Not that it was anything special anyway; it was just simple, common Kari.

She rubbed her hands together as she walked, wondering briefly why some sort of transportation couldn't have been arranged. While her coat, boots and hat kept her quite warm, her hands were freezing.

Finally, she came to the fork in the road that the old woman had been talking about. Her eyes focused on the side and she muttered, "Go left Kari." It was a perfect imitation of the old bat's voice. She looked at her hands and said, in her normal tone, "Well I know what's to the left. I'll be little orphaned Kari for the rest of my life." She let out a deep sigh before looking up from her hands and taking a step backwards.

"But if I go right…" Kari muttered. "Maybe, just maybe I'll find my family. Or, at least find out who I am." She looked up at the two signs, one pointing left, and the other pointing right. She knew that this would be her only chance to make this choice, but what if she just ended up wandering around the capital of Radiant Garden forever, with no job and no way to get to Destiny Islands?

An angry sigh left her mouth as she looked up at the light grey sky. She fell back into the snow bank beside the sign and yelled out, "Give me a sign! A hint! Anything!" She put her face in her hands, and jumped when a small bark seemed to echo around her.

Kari looked up and saw a small, dog with pure black fur except around his face, where it was white, with large almost black eyes. The oddest part was the fact that it looked like the little puppy had a bump on the top of his head, between his long, floppy ears.

"Where did you come from?" she asked with a slight grin as it wagged its skinny tail at her. It barked happily while prancing around her.

"Not now," Kari said to it clearly as if he could understand her. "I'm waiting for a sign."

The dog yipped again and grabbed a hold of the scarf that was hanging out of her pocket. She quickly grabbed a hold of the pink fabric, tugging back. "I don't have time for this!"

The dog suddenly ran around her legs, wrapping the scarf around them and kept running. She let out a small scream as she ended up falling over one of the cold, white snow banks.

Kari let go of the scarf and wiped the snow out of her face. She shot a quick glare at the little dog and said, "Thank a lot." The dog barked again and ran a few more feet down the road before turning to face her again, wagging it's tail.

"Oh great," she said with a sigh as she pushed herself back up into a sitting position. "A dog wants me to go to the capital."

There was a moment's pause before her indigo eyes widened with realization and her lips formed an o. She looked around again, seeing the dog still there, and she stood up while said, "I can take a hint."

She walked towards the small dog before kneeling down and picking up her scarf. Before she got up, she cast a quick look at the road signs behind her, but the dog tugged at the scarf and she turned away from them, slowly starting to walk down the road.

"So," Kari muttered. "I suppose you need a name, don't you?"

The dog, of course, didn't reply. He just happily held one end of the pink fabric in his mouth as she held the other in her hand. They walked silently for a few moments before she said, "How about I call you Goofy?"

The dog barked while wagging it's tail, the scarf falling from its mouth. For an animal, it looked quite pleased with her choice.

"Goofy it is then," she said with a laugh as she picked him up. "So little puppy, where do we plan on doing in the capital? Just wandering around for a while? Or...we could..." Her hand clasped her necklace tightly. She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them with a quick shake of her head. "What's a little puppy like you doing out here on your own anyway? Don't worry, neither of us will be lost or alone ever again after this. I promise."

She started humming to herself again as she walked down the road. Goofy squirmed in her arms for a moment, so she set him down. Again, he took one end of her scarf into his mouth and she held the other in her hand. "You know Goofy, I do have more than just this necklace as a clue to my past. There's also this song I think I remember. There were words to go with it, but I don't remember them. I just remember the song."

Kari hummed a little louder, spinning around with a happy laugh. Goofy let go of the scarf and ran in circles around her, yipping happily. She laughed and practically started skipping down the road with her already faithful companion running at her side.

Although the excitement continued to run through her veins, Kari managed to calm herself down so that she didn't waste all of her energy on dancing and skipping down the road. It was still freezing out, and she doubted she'd make it to the capital city before nightfall.

Kari studied the area around her carefully. She quickly came to the conclusion that she'd probably have to dig herself a small snow shelter, since snow was actually a really good insulator.

"We'll keep each other warm, right Goofy?" she said aloud to the dog, which pranced along happily beside her. The poor thing attached itself to her quickly, so she wondered if someone abandoned him on the road. It was a likely scenario, since he seemed comfortable around people.

Or maybe someone really did send him as a sign, Kari thought with a small smile. Maybe, the family that couldn't be with her was watching over her, trying to help her find her way.

Kari often daydreamed about her family, trying to force herself to remember them. She imagined that one of her parents had the exact same hair color as her, and perhaps the same eye color. Her mother, she had decided early on, was rather short, just like she was, but her father had been a tall, strong man. Perhaps she had an older brother? Or maybe a younger one? Who knew?

She spent a while contemplating her dream family, trying to figure out exactly what it looked like. She was sure she had an older brother, and maybe a sister.

The sound of laughter broke her from her thoughts as she looked off of the side of the road. Two little children were happily playing in the snow, giggling and tossing snowballs at each other.

Kari looked around with confusion until she saw the rising smoke of a chimney. These two probably lived out here. With a shrug, Kari was about to continue on until she heard a loud crack, followed by a splash and a scream.

She whipped around and saw the little girl standing beside what they now knew was a snow-covered river. Kari didn't hesitate to run over in their direction, skidding to the ground beside the girl. The little boy, who had managed to grab onto the edge of the ice, was only just under the surface of the water, making it easy for Kari to grab a hold of him and pull him out.

Quickly, she pulled off her coat and wrapped it around the little boy, holding him close as he sobbed. She looked at his sister (at least, she assumed it was his sister) and asked, "Where's your house?"

"This way," the girl replied as she quickly led Kari through the forest with Goofy running after them.

"Mommy!"

A brown haired woman looked up and gasped when she saw her son in Kari's arms, shivering and turning blue. She turned into the house and yelled, "Tidus!" Then she rushed towards Kari.

"Mommy," the little boy moaned and the woman took him into her arms.

Their father, Tidus (Kari assumed), burst out of the door and asked, "What's wro—what happened?"

"We were playing by the ice daddy," the little girl said. "And he fell through. This nice lady was walking by and she got him out."

"Yuna, take Hayner inside," Tidus said to her quickly. "Olette, go with your mother."

The little girl nodded quickly and tore after her mother and her brother. Tidus turned around to Kari and said, "Is your home around here?"

"No," she answered while rubbing her arms. She scooped Goofy into her arms to keep them warmer. "I just left the orphanage today and I'm going to the capital. This is my dog, Goofy."

His eyes softened and he said, "Come inside. You're arms must be freezing. I'm assuming you have nowhere to stay right now?"

She nodded her head as he ushered her inside.

"You can stay here tonight," Yuna answered quickly. She was already boiling water over their fire and had many thick blankets pulled out of one of their closets. "You saved our son's life, it's the least we can do."

Kari stared at the welcoming couple with thought. While she didn't want to intrude on them, she didn't really fancy building a snow tunnel with a wet shirt.

She nodded her head and said, "My name's Kari, and it'd be greatly appreciated if I could stay with you."

"I'm Tidus, and this is my wife Yuna. Our girl is Olette, and our boy is Hayner," Tidus said as he motioned for Kari to come closer to the fire. "Come, make yourself warm over here."

Kari smiled warmly at them as she sat on the floor and Goofy curled up in her lap, she had known them for about five minutes, but they were already nicer than anyone she had met in the orphanage.

**VVVVVVVV**

She couldn't help but notice the odd looks that Tidus had given her as the night passed on. They weren't lustful or passionate looks, but rather curious ones. He eyed her as if he was judging whether she was real or a manifestation of his mind.

Kari wiped some of the softly falling snow out of her face as she sat in the sleigh Tidus' horse was pulling. She sat amongst the items he was bringing into a small trading post, which was a half an hour's walk from the capital. She had insisted that it was more than enough, since it saved her nearly an entire day of travel.

She scratched behind Goofy's ears and looked up at off-white clouds covering the sky. The conversation that she had heard between Yuna and Tidus the night before wouldn't leave her mind.

She had finally found out the reason for his oddly curious looks. Tidus had pulled Yuna aside later, claiming that he recognized Kari from somewhere, but he didn't know where.

Apparently he was fifteen years older than she was, but he didn't look it at all. Yuna was only eight years older than her. At a young age, Tidus claimed that he was a teacher to the younger children in the Hart Palace. He said to have taught all of the Princesses, and he had been looking forward to teaching the Prince before the revolution. He also taught some of the servant children in the palace, because the Hart family didn't want their servants to be illiterate or unable to perform the most basic of math equations.

He claimed that he was sure he had seen Kari somewhere before, but when she was younger. He just couldn't figure out exactly who she was. It was a shame, really, because if this man had known who she was then that would have solved her problem.

Yuna had reminded Tidus that he spent quite a bit of time outside of the palace walls before the revolution, so he could have seen her anywhere.

This gave her a bit of hope though. She knew this had to be a sign that she was going in the right direction, a sign that following Goofy was the right thing to do.

She was jerked out of her thoughts as they came to a stop. There were a few small house and little shops that Tidus was bringing some of his lumber to.

The man helped her out of the sleigh and he asked, "Are you sure you will be alright? I'd hate for the woman who saved my son from drowning or freezing to end up freezing herself."

"I'll be fine," Kari said. "I'm a tough girl. Besides, it's only a half an hour away. I walked farther than that yesterday. Thank you for your hospitality."

"I hope you find what you're looking for Kari," he said to her, watching as she smiled and walked away, her little dog on her heels.

Kari hummed happily to herself, glad that she had found a good enough place to stay the previous night. While she wished she could have gotten to know Yuna and Tidus more, her journey was calling to her. She knew she needed to be in the capital that day. There was something in her mind screaming at her to move.

Finally, cheeks pink from the cold air and the constant walking, Kari came to the top of a hill. Beyond it was a large, looming city with many brick homes and industrial buildings. She grinned broadly and looked down at her little dog, "Welcome to the capital, Goofy."

**VVVVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

Fact: the remains of two people were found in Russia, burned and with damage from bullets. It was revealed through DNA testing later on that the boy (who was aged from 12-14) was actually Alexi Romanov (who was close to turning 14 when he died), future Czar of Russia, and the other was one of his older sisters. It's actually believed now that it was his sister Maria and not Anastasia. This meant that, all along, Anastasia's remains were always with the rest of her family. It's kind of funny how it's always been 'Anastasia' who was missing in the stories. Then again, stories about a surviving Princess named Anastasia sound better than 'Olga' or 'Maria' or 'Titania'. Not that there's anything wrong with those names, but Anastasia just has this ring to it.

Sorry if I repeat a few names (for instance, I think I may have repeated the name Olette already, or I will be in the future, but it's only a once to twice mentioned thing, so I'm not going to bother changing it.). It just happens.

So now we've remet Kairi (aka Kari). I know the names are extremely similar, but I've changed the name about ten different times now and I like Kari the best. Pronounce it either Car-ee not Care-ee. It's different enough for this.

Again, that you to my reviewers! You guys are the best people in the world (No joking this time). Chiglet663, Shire Folk, Topaz Tsubasa and Demonically Angelic Neko88 (who, as always, will now be referred to as DAN88), you guys rock.

Also chasingfireflies, you get half props for sending me a PM when your review would work. Lol I know, I'm a horrible person.

Luv ya all!

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


	4. Hart Palace

**The Lost Princess**

_Hart Palace_

Kari held Goofy in her arms as she walked through the capital of Radiant Garden. When she was in the orphanage, she had always pictured the capital city as a beautiful place with a large forest and many gardens. For a moment, as she looked around the rather dead city, she could picture it exactly like that, but then she blinked, shaking her head. Of course, she knew that she had been in the capital as a child, but she had little memories of it, aside from speaking to a kindly old man who brought her to the orphanage when she revealed that she had no clue who she was.

The capital city, despite her expectations, was dark. Industries took over where the lush forests had once been, and it was hard to see the mountains in the distance because of all the smoke and smog. People chattered on happily around her, not bothering to even give a girl like her a second glance.

"So," Kari whispered to the puppy, Goofy. "Shall we try to find the train station?" The dog barked in agreement. She strolled along the streets, trying to think of a good plan of action. She knew that the trains could take her...somewhere. Then she'd have to get off of the train and get on a boat to go to Destiny Islands. She just couldn't think of where she had to go.

She closed her eyes for a moment, leaning against one of the cold, brick buildings. There was something she should know. Sometime in the back of her mind about Destiny Islands.

"This place used to have the prettiest sunsets," a middle-aged woman said to her husband as she passed by Kari. "Almost up to par with Destiny Islands, or Twilight Town."

_"...And if I were to travel by train, I'd have to stop in a small little place called Twilight Town. I've heard it's nice, but it's not a place for a–"_

She tried as hard as she could, but she couldn't remember. This happened more times then she could count. She'd get brief blurbs of her past, but they'd vanish before she could remember anything that would really help her. A sudden thought occurred to her at the piece of a memory: she must have lived here! Whomever it was that gave her the necklace must have lived on Destiny Islands, and was telling her about traveling there.

Kari wasn't stupid though. She knew she'd find no traces of her long-lost family in the capital. If most of her family had died in the rebellion, like hundreds of people did, then there'd be no clues left behind for her to discover.

With a happily wriggling Goofy in her arms, she started following the signs towards the train station. All the while, she hummed a tune to herself. The tune wasn't one she really recognized, but there was something about it, something that made it important to her. She had been humming that tune since the day she woke up with no memories.

Finally, she located the train station and saw a clerk with a fairly short line up. The fairly short line up turned out to be about a thirty-minute wait, but she supposed it was better than the rest of the lines.

"One ticket to Twilight Town please," Kari requested as she looked up at the man sitting behind the window.

"Travel pass," the man said and held out his hand expectantly.

"Travel pass?" she repeated, a look of confusing passing across her face.

The man looked severely unimpressed and snapped, "No travel pass, no ticket!" Then he slammed the window shut, causing her to jump back and smash into the little old lady behind her.

"Oh," Kari said as she helped the woman up. "I'm sorry ma'am."

"It's quite alright dear," the woman said. "Most don't care to help up an old lady. Now, you wished to go to Twilight Town. May I ask why?"

"I'm trying to find my family," Kari admitted. "And I need to get there first, and then Destiny Islands."

"Destiny Islands?" the woman repeated before smiling slightly and motioning for her to come closer. Once Kari was close enough to hear the woman's whispers, she said, "Find a young man named Sora. He can help."

"Where can I find him?" Kari asked eagerly.

"At the abandoned palace, but you didn't hear it from me."

Kari nodded and muttered a quick thank you before hurrying off down the road.

**VVVVVVVVVV**

Sora didn't bother restraining himself as she slammed his head on the table in front of him. It had been a week since he and Roxas had put the first steps of their (well, his) insane plan into motion, and already he felt like it was hopeless.

Roxas was a bit more reserved in his critiquing of the women who were trying to stage themselves to be Princess Kairi. He just tended to shred his papers and glare at them with a dark look.

When one woman, who was a blonde with brown eyes and a dark tan (Sora distinctly remembered the princess having rather pale skin), offered both boys 'the time of their lives' if they chose her, Sora had thrown down his pen and decided that enough was enough.

He let out an angry sigh and shoved his papers into is ragged, old briefcase. He pulled on his coat with an old scarf over that before slowly turning to his brother, who had a look of pure loathing on his face. Roxas had become rather irritable and twitchy in the past five minutes since they started packing up their stuff.

Once they got outside the theatre, Roxas let out a loud groan of annoyance before shoving some of the pages he was holding into his brother's face. "Look at this! It's been a week and we still haven't found the right girl! I mean we can't go to the former Queen with a tranny or a whore!"

"At least we hope not," Sora reminded him. They both knew very well that, if the Princess was still alive, something terrible could have happened to her that caused her to become something rather undesirable. Sora desperately hoped not. Everything he was looking for in the actress to play her now was a reflection of the girl that he had helped out of the palace. "We'll find her Roxas, I just know it."

"Good thing you can be Mr. Optimistic even in the worst situations," Roxas replied, a bit of sarcasm laced through his voice.

Sora smiled at his brother and said, "Come on, let's go home." The two young men started walking, and Sora ended up hitting a young woman traveling in the opposite direction. "Sorry miss."

"It's alright," she called back and kept walking.

Sora suddenly felt the urge to turn around and look at the girl that had passed them, but he shrugged it off. He just needed to get home and fix himself something to eat, that's all.

**VVVVVVVVVV**

Kari brushed off the man that had walked into her, not particularly caring. She was on a mission, and that (while making sure Goofy was still following her) was the most important thing.

"Excuse me," Kari asked a middle-aged man with a thick moustache. "Can you tell me where the Hart Palace is?"

The man scowled at her before pointing from the direction she had come from, "Down that street three blocks and to the right. Doesn't really matter, no one lives there anymore. Good riddance, I say. The queen with all of her stupid laws. King wasn't a bad guy, but they got what was coming to them."

Kari couldn't help but be a little offended by his words as she turned and stalked away from him, scooping Goofy off of the ground. She couldn't believe the way people talked about the poor royal family. It was as if they were the darkest, most vile creatures known to mankind. Sponsored by the new government, the children in the orphanages had grown up learning about how wonderful the new rule was. There had actually been very few mentions of the past government, but sometimes conversations about the Hart family would slip into explanations.

Kari had never believed that the family was nearly as bad as her teachers had made out. She believed that the Queen had made a few wrong decisions in her life, especially towards the end. She had never agreed that the children deserved what had happened to them though, especially not the youngest who had been but five.

"Ridiculous," she muttered to Goofy. "People are just so...argh!" She waved her free hand around wildly and the dog barked happily.

She kicked the snow in front of herself, humming the song that had always been embedded into her brain as she walked. Her eyes studied the world around her, taking in the dreary city. Surprisingly, the government had never set up in this particular town, choosing another farther north as their home base. Kari supposed it was so they had less to do with the royal family that once ruled the land.

After three blocks, she took a right and kept going, passing by muttering people who were only interested in their own business for the most part. Kari knew that wasn't true though, because every third or so person she passed by whispered rumors to their comrades.

She set Goofy down again and looked around the road oddly. The large amount of people roaming the roads seemed to disperse, leaving only a straggler or two. The buildings seemed much more rundown, and many of them were abandoned. It was like someone had sucked all of the life out of this part of the city.

Kari glanced down at Goofy, who barked loudly and ran around her legs. She giggled at the small dog before glancing up again.

Her breath left her in a visible swirling cloud as she looked at the large, metal gate in front of her. On either side of it, a wall of thick cement separated the world outside from the world beyond the gate.

Kari approached them and carefully pushed at the gates, finding that it slid open easily. She was so fascinated by them, that she didn't notice two other sets of footprints on the ground.

"Wow," she muttered as she stared at the building before her. It looked to be about three or four stories high, and was in the shape a square sans one side. In front, there was the ruins of a statue as well as the ruins of a fountain, and Kari could see where, at one point of time, a car might have been able to drive around the fountains and to the front doors. She could see a glamorous, polished black car pull up and the door behind pulled open. A tall woman stepped out of the car, a crown on her head and her blonde hair held into a bun. Now if only she would turn around...

Goofy barked, startling Kari. She looked down at the little dog as it wagged his tail excitedly and started running towards the castle. She quickly rushed after the dog, but she was still focused on the palace itself. It was boarded up, but still magnificent.

She heard another bark and looked behind her, to see that Goofy had stopped rushing around and was pushing himself through the space between two boards.

"Goofy," she growled and rushed over, looking through the cracks through the boards. She quickly pulled herself up, to attempt to get a better look through the boards with a bigger space between them up higher, but instead, the entire thing gave way under her weight. The old wood proved to be no match for her 110 pounds, and she ended up tumbling backwards onto the ground with a loud crash.

Goofy barked happily at her, and she shot him a quick glare before getting up. Hesitantly, she walked into the castle, staring in awe at the large, dark entrance hall before her. She walked up the marble steps, her footsteps echoing throughout the large room. There was a thick layer of dust covering everything, but it was in surprisingly good condition for being the site of a rebellion and a place of murder.

She suddenly heard a giggle and stopped walking. Kari whipped around and looked around carefully. She glanced down at Goofy, but he was interested in sniffing the red carpet, so she knew that she was just hearing things. Now that she thought about it, it wasn't like the echoing giggles of a person down the hall, but a faint memory of something happy...

Kari shook her head and continued walking down the hall. She turned a corner, and found herself in another entrance to a large room. She couldn't help but stare in awe at the room, which she correctly assumed to be a ballroom. Her indigo eyes scanned the room, looking from the portraits to the beautifully done paintings. There were long tables along the sides of the hall with dust-covered objects on them.

Kari was actually fairly surprised that there was anything left in the castle, but it appeared that very little had been stolen. It was curious, really, because the people who had overrun the palace had willingly murdered children, yet they left behind riches.

Goofy let out a small bark, and Kari turned around to face him. She let out a small gasp of awe as she looked at the painting that had been behind her. This was the royal family.

The king was tall with blond hair and eyes that were tinted orange. He sat behind a chair where a woman with bright red hair, more of an orange color, sat, her eyes an odd shade of blue. In the woman's arms was a small boy with spiky red hair and green eyes, a mischievous grin painted onto his face. The other four figures in the image were all girls. The two eldest with blonde hair, the difference being one had almost lavender eyes and the other with the same green as the small boy. The younger two both had red hair, but the elder looking one had the same bright red as the boy, and the younger a much deeper color. Both of them had blue eyes, but the younger one's eyes seemed to have a bit of purple painted into it.

Kari touched the picture, staring at it oddly. There was something so familiar about their faces. Perhaps she had seen them in passing when she was younger.

"That can't be right," she muttered to herself while tracing her fingers along the bottom of the image, a thick layer of dust appearing on her hands as she did. "They rarely ever left the palace walls. Well, I suppose that's a lie actually. They did, but only to travel to their summer home along the coast..." Kari didn't wonder about her own words for a moment. Instead, she kept studying the image. It never occurred to her to think of how she knew that they went to a summer home.

She continued humming to herself as she took off her heavy jacket, feeling warm despite the coldness of the palace. She tossed it to the ground along with her hat, her gloves and her scarf.

Goofy watched with a tilt of the head as she walked down the stairs and towards the tables, blowing the dust away from the dishes there. She picked up what was once a shining plate and held it out, staring at her reflection curiously.

All of a sudden, she saw a tall blond man spinning a young, red haired girl around behind her. She let out a gasp and spun around to look, but no one was there.

Carefully, she set the plate down and touched one of the vases, admiring the way the yellow fish and the red crabs were painted onto that. There was something about the vase that made giggling echo through her mind, and a wave of sadness rushed through her.

She let out a small sigh before turning and walking into the middle of the room, her indigo eyes taking in all of the pictures surrounding her. It was a truly beautiful room.

Kari closed her eyes tightly, and suddenly she could hear excited whispers around her. Slowly, her eyes opened and she was thrown into a world of color. The room was much cleaner, sparkling with a warm shine. Men and woman danced around her in flashes of blues, purples, greens and pinks.

The same giggle as before was heard and she turned around to find a red haired girl with blue eyes smiling at her. She had a warm smile and said, "Come on, you can't dance in that."

"I know you," Kari muttered as she stared at the girl.

"Of course you do silly. We see each other every day, come on now, you can't wear that," the red head encouraged. There was a pause before she said, "Much better."

Kari looked at herself and couldn't help but admire the sparkling yellow and pink gown that she had on. Her hair was untucked from its usual (purposefully done) knot, instead it was straight down to the stop of her shoulder blades. She looked back at the girl and saw her smiling with several other figures. That's when it occurred to Kari, these people were the Hart family. There was something missing though...

Kari's eyes turned to the image before glancing back at the transparent figures. The youngest girl wasn't there.

Ansem took a few steps towards her and held out his hand, but as she touched him, the illusion vanished and everything was dreary again. She slowly pulled her hand back to her chest, just over her heart, and formed a fist, still staring at the spot where the illusion had vanished. For some reason, she felt like crying right then and there, but she kept a straight face, if only for herself.

Kari let out a sigh and looked over at Goofy, who was staring at the hall behind her with his ears perked up.

"Hey!" a deep voice yelled out to her, causing her to jump and spin around with surprise. She saw two young men, one with brown hair and one with blond, staring at her from across the room. "What are you doing here?"

There was a pause as she stared at them, and they stared at her, before she turned on her heels and started running.

**VVVVVVVVVV**

Sora sighed happily as they entered one of the old servant doors in the palace. It was a door hidden by trees, never found and destroyed by the rebels. Some people might have disapproved of him and Roxas living in the castle of the dead Hart family, but this had been their home as well. Neither of them had anywhere else to go after the revolution, so they didn't go anywhere. They never ventured far beyond the kitchen, their bedrooms (still in the servants rooms) and one of the old living rooms that had never really been used.

No one else knew that they lived in the castle anyway. They never advertised that fact to people, partially because they liked their privacy and partially out of respect for the Hart family. Their home didn't deserve to turn into a cheap hotel or anything like that. Sure, a few people knew, but not many.

Roxas went to work cooking the bit of food they had on them. He was a much better cook than his brother. Roxas claimed that this was because he had actually done the work assigned to him when he was younger while Sora had simply slacked off and stalked Kairi Hart around the castle.

The two didn't discuss their plan that was falling to pieces rather rapidly; actually, they didn't discuss anything. They sat by the fireplace in the living room that they had commandeered from the mass amount of dust in the house, and ate the bland food in silence once it was ready.

Sora let out a deep sigh and stretched his limbs as he sat on a rather comfortable chair. He closed his cerulean eyes until a loud crash distracted him.

He and Roxas both sat up quickly, looking at the door curiously. Neither of them said a word as they got up and quietly started walking down the hallways.

"It came from the front," Roxas muttered quietly after a moment. It took a few minutes to walk from the servant's corridors to

Sora nodded his head and was about to take one of the halls to head towards the front of the house, but he stopped. The sound of faint humming caught his attention, and he motioned for Roxas to following him.

They followed the sound of the humming, and Sora couldn't help but find that it was an absolutely beautiful melody. At the same time, it was haunting and sent chills up his spine. It was almost like the palace itself, or the memories within it, were humming the tune.

Sora pushed open one of the doors to the ballroom and walked inside. He was stunned at what he saw. A young woman was standing in the center of the dance floor, looking away from them. The little dog on the stairs (that looked like he had a Mohawk) did notice them though.

"Hey!" he called out. She jumped, spinning around in the process. She stared at him for a moment, and even from across the room, he could see her startled features. "What are you doing here?"

They stared at each other for a moment before she suddenly turned and started running. Sora quickly shot down the stairs in front of him, running across the hall quickly. It was lucky that he was a lot faster than she was, because by the time he reached her, she was only just up the stairs.

"Stop!" Sora called out to her as he rushed up the stairs, the dog barking happily. She stopped, facing the painting of the Hart family. "What are you doing here?" he repeated.

She let out a sigh and turned around, "Alright, alright..."

Roxas was distracted by the little dog jumping around them and picked it up. He laughed at it and said, "You're a cute puppy, aren't you?"

Sora, however, heard neither Roxas nor the girl in front of him. Instead, his eyes were locked onto her own eyes. A thin beam of sunlight streamed through the window, highlighting both the eyes of the image of Princess Kairi, and the young woman's own eyes.

"Roxas," he muttered, but his brother ignored him, still playing with the small dog. "Roxas!"

"What?" he snapped as Sora grabbed his arm.

"Do you see what I see?"

Roxas glanced at the girl and his eyes immediately widened as he looked from her to the image.

This girl and Princess Kairi had the exact same eyes.

**VVVVVVVVVV**

**Author's Note  
**

Yes, Roxas is going to be all 'awww puppy!' in this. The thought made me laugh immensely so I had to keep it.

So who here saw the new preview for birth by sleep? I saw it and my first thought was 'awww Aqua made them all good luck charms'. Then I thought 'wtf Mickey's surfing a book on water? Well that's what he gets for enchanting brooms (I'm assuming that's where that clip came from.).'

It also implies that at least Aqua has never been to Destiny Islands before. Makes you wonder if Ven is, and if he's not, then really…more confusion.

I bet he's ANOTHER version of Sora sent to the past or some kind of BS of that, but it's okay, because everyone's going to forget him anyway. Seriously, this isn't a real theory, this is me ranting.

Also lol at Tinkerbell. "I'm going to kick you as hard as I can!" That's what the translation I was looking at said.

Anyways, thank you all for the reviews! Shire Folk, Chiglet663, Topaz Tsubasa, Trainalf, DAN88, catharsis25 and chasingfireflies. Seriously, I really appreciate it.

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


	5. The Sky, The Sea, The Land

**The Lost Princess**

_Chapter Four - The Sky, The Sea, The Land_

Despite the situation she was in, Kari couldn't help but study the two young men in front of her. They looked astoundingly a like, and on top of that, they were both fairly good looking.

The blond of the two was holding her dog. From first glance when they got close to her, he seemed to be the cold one, but upon the sight of the adorable little dog, that coldness over his face melted away and he turned into a little child before her eyes. Still, his cerulean eyes seemed a little more guarded, as did his demeanor.

The brunet though, well, there was something about him that Kari knew was different. She could see the curiosity, astonishment, and a bit of excitement filtering through his cerulean blue eyes, and she couldn't help but find herself finding that he was the more attractive of the two. She knew that some would disagree, but it wasn't her fault that she tended to think brunets were cuter than blonds.

"Are you Sora?" she asked him.

One of his eyebrows rose a bit before he grinned and said, "It depends on who's asking."

"My name's Kari," she said. "And I was told to—what are you doing?"

Sora had started circling her, looking her up and down. Kari couldn't help but blush vibrantly, her body heating up from his stare. She would have to be cross with him, but she couldn't help but feel a little flattered at the way he looked at her.

"What are you? A vulture in another life or something?" she snapped as he got in front of her.

"Sorry, what was it, Kai--"

"Kari," she interrupted quickly. "Kuh-are-ee."

"I'm sorry," he said evenly. "It's just you look an awful lot like--" He motioned to the painting behind her but before she could look his shook his head and said, "Never mind. Now, what did you say you wanted?"

"I'm looking for travel papers and I've been told that you're the person to see." She seemed to think about this for the moment before leaning forward and whispering, "But I can't tell you who said that."

Sora nodded his head before asking, "Well, I don't know..."

"I want to go to Destiny Islands," Kari explained as she fiddled with her necklace.

"Destiny Islands?" Sora asked, excitement passing through his eyes. He grinned broadly before saying, "Well Miss—is there a last name that goes with such a pretty face?"

Kari blushed a bit before saying, "This is going to sound strange, but I don't know my last name." She shrugged a bit, still fiddling with her necklace. "I was found when I was eight, unconscious, without a clue who I was."

"And before that?" he asked, but he couldn't stop himself from thinking about how perfect the situation was.

"Like I said, it's strange, but I don't remember. I have one clue to who I am, and that is Destiny Islands. So, what do you say?" Kari asked him, fluttering her eyes lashes a bit as she did so. Hey, other girls said it worked, so why not try?

"Rox, give me the tickets," Sora whispered to his brother, who quickly passed them to him. Sora shot Kari a quick smile before saying, "As it so happens, I have three—er...well that one's expired (He tossed the fourth ticket away quickly, recognizing it as one of the counter fit tickets that Roxas had attempted to make.), tickets to Twilight Town, and we have plans to get from there to Destiny Islands."

"Really?" Kari asked excitedly, her face lighting up.

This time, a small blush couldn't help but appear on Sora's face. He cleared his throat before saying, "Well yes, but you see, one's for me, one's for Roxas here, and one, is for her." Sora pointed over her shoulder at the painting behind her. "Imperial Princess Kairi Hart."

"Oh," Kairi said with fascination as she looked at the image.

"We are going to unite the Princess with her grandmother," Roxas explained as he scratched Goofy's belly.

Sora quickly moved forward and grabbed one of here arms, while Roxas grabbed the other (making sure not to drop her puppy) and they started walking down the large hall together. "You know," Sora started. "You look an awful lot like her."

"He's right," Roxas agreed. "Same red hair."

"Same indigo eyes," Sora continued. "Same physical type."

"You even have the grandmother's hands," Roxas said while holding them out. Sora let out a bit of a groan and Kairi smacked his hand away.

"You seriously want me to believe that you think_ I_ am Princess Kairi?" She looked from one boy to another as they nodded their heads. "I knew there was a bit of insanity here, but now I think you're both crazy."

"Why is it so impossible to believe?" Sora asked her. "You don't know who you are."

"Nobody knows what happened to her," Roxas continued.

"You're looking for family on Destiny Islands," the brunet said.

"And her only family is on Destiny Islands," the blond finished.

"Think about it," Sora said. "What if it's true?"

Kari looked up at the painting of just the children that they had moved to, her eyes focusing on the older girls and the younger boy. She shrugged a bit before saying, "I don't know. It's kind of hard to believe that you're an Imperial Princess when you're scrubbing dirt off of the floor and sleeping in damp blankets." She sighed, eyeing the image in front of her. "But I suppose, yeah. Every lonely girl out there wishes that she was really a princess."

Sora looked away from the picture and at his watch. They could still make the train of they left quickly enough. He was sure that they were ringing in Kari slowly but surely. They just needed to speed the process up a bit and catching the first train they could was the best idea.

"And out there, some little girl is," Roxas told Kari as he handed her Goofy. "You know, the name Kairi means sea? The constantly moving, constantly changing, constantly alive sea?"

Roxas was about to continue his dramatic tirade about the name Kairi, something Sora had to admire, since Roxas wasn't nearly as expressive as he appeared to be right now. His brother was doing an amazing acting job, but they needed to speed things along.

"Look, I'm really sorry," Sora said to Kari. "And I wish we could help, but the last ticket is for Kairi, and we must be going. Come on Roxas."

Roxas shot Sora a confused look before following his brother. He nudged Sora roughly and said, "What are you doing? She's perfect! Why didn't you tell her our plan?"

"She doesn't need to know it," Sora whispered. "All she wants to do is go to Destiny Islands. Once we're there, everything will be fine. She'll have a family and we'll have our money."

"Why are we walking away then?" Roxas snapped.

"Walk slower," Sora muttered.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kari studying the picture of the royal children with interest. She touched it, staring at the faces of the Hart children.

"Three, two, one," Sora whispered, and just after he finished saying the number one, he heard Kari call him.

"Yes?" Sora asked while turning to face her, pretending to seem more curious than anything.

"If I don't remember who I am, then who's to say I'm not a princess," Kari said as she walked down the stairs to them.

"Yeah," he agreed, unable to keep the smug look off of his face.

"And if I'm not, the former Queen will certainly know and it'll all just be a big misunderstanding," she finished.

"Seems reasonable," Sora agreed with her.

Roxas took a step towards her and said, "But if you really are the Imperial Princess, you will finally have your family."

Kari smiled at him before turning back to the brunet and saying, "Well Mr. Sora, do we have ourselves a deal?" She held her hand out to him.

"Deal," Sora replied happily, squeezing her hand tightly. His eyes met hers for a moment, and a blush graced both of their features before they quickly let go of the other's hand.

"Goofy, we're going to Destiny Islands," Kari said happily to the dog, who barked in reply.

"Does he have to come?"

"Yes he has to come."

"Can we put him with the luggage then?"

"Absolutely not!"

Roxas let out a sigh as he led his way out of the door. Of course his brother had to go and fall in love at first sight. That was something so...Sora of him to do.

A grin appeared on Roxas' face as he listened to Sora and Kari bicker behind him. At least he'd get to play with a puppy until Destiny Islands, and once he was there he could see Naminé again.

**VVVVVVVV**

Sora and Roxas, although they had never known, weren't the only occupants of Hart Palace. They had lived there since birth, their mother born into the life of a servant as well. It had been their home as much as it had been the home of the Hart family, so they never left it when everyone else had abandoned the ruined palace.

Still, never once had they known that yet another person lived there. This person, however, was well aware of them. He watched them sometimes, listening of their plans to bring in a fake Princess Kairi.

He scoffed a bit at their schemes as he continued to hide in the shadows, knowing how to use their powers to remain unseen.

Bright green eyes watched the brunet ('Sora,' he remembered.) and the redheaded girl argue about the dog as they headed towards the door.

Leaning back against the wall, he ran a hand through his long, silver hair and muttered, "I can't believe those idiots think that they're really going to pull this idiotic plan off. Sure, the girl could pass for Princess Kairi at first, but the former Queen won't be fooled."

Riku pushed himself off of the wall to look down at them from his spot in the shadows on a windowsill. He tilted his head a bit as he heard Sora pronounce, "May I introduce Imperial Princess Kairi Hart." The girl who would be acting as the Princess, laughed, their fight already forgotten as she took his hand and curtsied politely.

"Just a problem with that, reject," Riku said with a sigh. "The Princess is dead. All of the Harts are dead." He didn't notice, behind him, the foreboding, black Keyblade was starting to glow a bit, and was slowly started to hover above the ground.

Riku noticed an odd shadow hovering beside him and he quickly looked around, nearly stumbling off the edge of the windowsill. He then took a few steps towards the Keyblade, staring at it oddly.

"You're kidding me," he growled. "This thing finally woke up after years just because some spiky-headed nitwit claims that the poor girl is Kairi?" Riku observed it for a moment, trying to figure out exactly why the Keyblade's powers seemed to have miraculously appeared again.

He looked out the window after a few moments of brooding, watching Sora, Roxas and the girl walking away with the little dog in tow. She had obviously won their argument. Then again, just from listening, he could tell that she had this commanding aura to her.

Suddenly everything clicked together. He squinted his eyes to try and see the girl again but they were too far away.

"My god," he muttered. "This thing's powers came back because she is Princess Kairi! I thought she died years ago because she wasn't with her grandmother! Wait until that Sora kid figures out that he actually has the Princess. Screws up the best con in history part of his plan. Wonder if he'll be excited or disappointed when he finds out his great con is actually legit."

If the Keyblade had been a living, thinking object, it would have gotten frustrated with Riku ignoring it already. It pulsed with dark energy, drawing Riku's attention back to it. He reached out and took the object into his hand, and a small beam of what could only be described as tangible darkness curled out of the Keyblade and started swirling in a circle until there was a portal large enough for Riku to step through.

He cautiously looked at the Keyblade again before slowly walking towards the darken portal. He had nothing to lose by going through it, and he felt as if something was speaking to him. Asking him to come closer to it.

His stomach lurched with a sickening pull as he fell. There was nothing but darkness and the cold air whipping passed his face. He couldn't even see his silver hair as it whipped against his cheeks, but he could feel it beating against him.

Suddenly he felt a second lurch in his stomach as he ended up flipping over and landing roughly on some sort of floor. Riku let out a groan and glared at the Keyblade in his hand. It was still glowing, but not nearly as much as before.

Pushing himself off of the cold, damp floor, Riku abandoned the Keyblade that he had been playing guardian to for the past ten years and took in his new surroundings. In was in a darkened room with many oddly shaped pillars and darkened corridors.

"Where in god's name did that thing take me?" Riku muttered.

"Who dares enter my domain of solitude?" a rather demanding but at the same time, monotone, voice demanded. Riku looked around with confusion, and couldn't help but blink with surprise when he saw whom it was speaking to him. He knew the voice had been familiar.

The man's hair was different, with bangs in his eyes rather than pulled back, and his skin wasn't tanned quite as darkly as it had been before, but there was no mistaking who it was.

"Master Xehanort?"

"Who dares speak my old name? I am Xemnas!"

"Xemnas?" Riku asked as he stepped forward from the shadows so that his master could see him.

Dark, sickeningly cold, orange eyes stared at Riku, studying his face before the man said, "Riku, my faithful servant. You have grown."

"It's been years, my Master. You seem…different."

"I am," Xemnas muttered. "I am the second half of what was destroyed by that infernal Princess. She destroyed the part of me known as a Heartless: the darkness and heart of a being. I am all that is left: the Nobody without a heart. As so, I have constructed myself a new name: Xemnas."

Riku thought this over for a moment before saying, "So she actually destroyed that part of you? How?"

"Her Imperial Highness, Princess Kairi, is one of seven princess who have no darkness in their heart, only pure light. She destroyed half of me."

"Where are we now, then?"

Xemnas turned away from Riku and held his hands towards the sky as he spoke, "This is my prison. The world in between. I am of nothingness as well, so I cannot travel into the realm of light again, but I know I must. There is something not right, something that bothers me although I cannot feel."

"I'd think so," Riku answered. "You're curse isn't complete yet, is it? Princess Kairi is still alive."

Xemnas slowly lowered his arms and turned to stare at Riku. Though there was no emotion in the man's eyes, Riku could practically see his thoughts whirling through his head.

"Still alive? If only I hadn't lost the dark Keyblade. It would be enough to allow me to manipulate in the light again."

Riku suddenly turned his back to Xemnas, reaching down to grab something. The man watched with what would have been interest if he could feel anything, but when Riku turned around he was sure that he could feel the surprise radiating through his body.

The darkened Keyblade.

"I kept it all these years," Riku explained. "Made sure nothing happened to it."

A forced smirk appeared on Xemnas' face and he said, "Riku, I believe you've just solved all of my problems."

**VVVVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

I hate school. Seriously, we're in university, and my German teacher had a tizzy about people not doing our homework. Then she growled at me for not using powerpoint (which I absolutely loathe, and would mess up going from Mac to PC anyway), when I made a little website for our project with Flash instead. Flash takes much more effort and looks a lot better than powerpoint. Ever wanted to throw something at someone? Yeah, that's the way I feel.

And don't get me started on English. I hate that class too. Good thing I already have an extra English credit from college so I don't have to take it next semester. It would probably ruin my love of writing since this class already ruined Shakespeare for me.

So in general, above reasons, and other things I have to take care of have kept me busy these past couple days. Sorry if I didn't get around to replying to all reviews! I promise, I will this time around.

Again, thank you to all the reviewers! You guys really make my day. Shire Folk, Demonically Angelic Neko88, Swanna, Topaz Tsubasa, catharsis25, chasingfireflies, Alisha Coddington and Zacheria. I really appreciate it!

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


	6. Memories

**The Lost Princess**

_Chapter Five – Memories_

"Damnit," Sora muttered. He had stopped to grab Kari something to eat while Roxas took their luggage (which wasn't that much) to the train. Their moment of pause had been enough to make them almost late for the train.

Grabbing Kari's arm quickly, he started dashing towards the train that was starting to pull away. "Hurry Kari."

"_Hurry Kairi."_

She blinked and shook her head rapidly. For a moment, instead of the content (but busy) people milling around them, she could see frightened and panicked people.

"Hurry," Sora urged her again.

"_Hurry."_

Kari couldn't help but feel tears welding up into her eyes and she suddenly gripped Sora's hand tighter than before as they neared the train. Panic flashed through her as Sora let go for a second to climb on before reaching out and grabbing her outstretched hand again.

"Don't let go," Kari said, not enjoying the feeling of panic and déjà vu traveling through her body.

With a quick tug, Sora managed to yank her up beside him before the train started moving too quickly. A surprised look appeared on his face as Kari suddenly hugged him tightly. She let go of him quickly enough before saying, "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked her as his spiky hair started whipping passed his face as the train picked up speed.

"For not letting go," she replied.

Sora eyed her oddly for a moment before taking her hand into his own again and leading her into the train's compartment. Kairi couldn't help but blush slightly as his gloves hands curled around her own. They both wore fingerless gloves, and when their fingers touched, Kairi couldn't help but feel her cheeks heat up a bit.

It was odd, because none of the older boys at the orphanage had ever really appealed to her. Yes, she had thought that some were good looking, there was no doubt about that, but she had never felt the urge to sneak off with them and do some things that would have made their caretaker flip completely.

She didn't even know much about Sora, but there was something about him that intrigued her. She wanted to get to know him, even if he didn't like Goofy that much.

Speaking of which, she was startled out of her thoughts as Sora stopped walking suddenly and dropped her hand. He slid open one of the doors of the train's compartments and motioned for her to come inside.

Kari walked into the room and quickly took a seat beside the window as she greeted Roxas, who nodded back before looking back at whatever he was working away at.

"So the dog gets the window seat," Sora muttered to himself.

A frown appeared on Kari's face and her cheeks reddened a bit. She kicked him roughly and said, "Excuse me?!"

Sora winced in pain as he hobbled to the seat beside her. Shooting her a glare he said, "No you. I meant your actual dog."

She seemed to shrink down in her seat for a moment and quickly muttered an apology before turning to look out the window, slumping down to hide her embarrassment.

They watched as the city finally vanished behind them, turning into a countryside covered in a thick layer of snow. Kari wondered for a moment if she would see the orphanage in the distance, but she quickly shook her head to rid herself of the thought. She never wanted to go think of that miserable place again.

She hadn't realized that she had been fiddling with her necklace until she felt Sora's hand rest over hers so that he could get a good look at it.

"Where'd you get this?" Sora asked her curiously.

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're thinking," she said quickly. "I've had it forever."

"Stop jumping to conclusions," Sora said with frustration. He looked at the necklace that was still in his hand and added, "No, I was just curious about it. I'm surprised you still have it. You lived in the orphanage, right? I'm surprised someone didn't take it."

Kari nodded a bit before saying, "A bunch of people did try to take it. A quick black eye was enough to deter them though."

Roxas snorted from where he was sitting, and Goofy barked happily. A smile appeared on Sora's face at her words as he let go of the necklace. He continued to stare at Kari for a moment before saying, "Sit up straight. Princesses don't slouch."

She stared at him for a moment before sitting up a little straighter and saying, "Sora? How do you know what an Imperial Princess acts like?"

For a moment, a giggling princess with long, dark red hair passed through his mind, dancing with her father, skipping through the halls, smiling with her siblings, and running away with her grandmother passed through Sora's mind.

He could remember her clearly, but at the same time, his memory was blurred. He couldn't remember Princess Kairi's exact features because he knew that the paintings in the old palace had been glorified. King Ansem had never been as young looking as his later portraits portrayed.

Glancing back at Kari, he stared at her for a moment before saying, "I make it my business to know." Part of him wanted to tell her everything about their plan, but something was also holding him back.

"Sora?" she asked, a thoughtful look passing over her features. "Do you really believe that I'm her? That I'm Princess Kairi?"

"You know I do," Sora answered before he could think about it. "Now sit up straight."

She rolled her eyes before saying, "Then stop bossing me around."

Roxas laughed outright at the two and decided that he would have to make a tally as they continued their journey. He was sure it would be an interesting one. Glancing over at the small dog beside him, he pet Goofy for a moment before going back to forging their travel papers.

Over the years, Roxas had become gifted with creating any documents that he or his brother might have needed. He was never proud of what he could do, but he knew it was necessary. He also knew that there was only so long he could pull off such a feat. In Radiant Garden, technology had been vast, but with the fall of the Hart family, in the face of revolution, their industries had boomed, but their technology was lost. As it was, Roxas doubted he could pull off forging papers in another country without the proper tools.

He was vaguely aware of the puppy, Goofy, yawning and curling up at his side. He glanced at the watch he had procured when he was younger, and blinked with surprise. He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts and his work that he hadn't even noticed the time pass by.

Looking over at Sora and Kari, a rare grin passed across his features. Sora was leaning back, snoring like the lazy person he could be, and Kari was lying with her head on his lap.

Watching the two of them, Roxas' sentimental side almost hoped that the former Queen would recognize that Kari was a fake. He was sure that his brother would end up falling for the girl.

But at the same time, Roxas had to wonder. What were the odds that they had found a girl with no memory of her past, that supposedly had family on Destiny Islands, with the right hair and eyes to pull it off? Even her name was extremely similar.

Part of Roxas wondered if they had really found the Princess. He shook his head at the thought. The odds of something like that happening were phenomenal, since no one had any proof that the youngest princess had, in fact, survived.

Still, there was something about his brother's expression when he first laid eyes of Kari, when he first heard her story, that made Roxas wonder what he really knew. Sora knew something that he didn't, he knew that, but never once had he pressed for the information. He knew his twin brother well enough to know when to leave things be.

He slipped his papers back into his suitcase when he was finished with them. He was lucky that he had been able to get his hands on some travel papers to look off of, otherwise their master plan would have been ruined anyway.

**VVVVVVV**

"_Where are they boy?"_

_A small girl laughed happily as she skipped down the halls, her laughter only silenced by the humming that escaped her lips. He wasn't watching where he was going and ended up crashing into her._

"_I'm sorry!" he cried out, horrified at what he had done. _

"_All of them were murdered…"_

_She looked up at him and laughed while helping him pick up the bowl of apples he had spilled on the floor. She picked up the bowl as they stood up and passed it to him. "I won't tell anyone."_

_He stared into her bright indigo eyes and smiled broadly and the kind princess. He blushed and bit and bowed politely. "Thank you, Princess Kairi."_

"_They deserved it you know. They were going to bring our entire country down in their own fall."_

_Her kind eyes suddenly turned into ones brimming with fear. She tried to get back into the room, saying something, but he couldn't hear her words. Instead, he pushed her back behind the secret passage before turning around and facing the soldier that stormed into the room._

_As the soldier stuck him with his gun, as he slipped unconscious, the images of Princess Kairi's happy stare, and her horrified look, switched back and fourth in his mind. He prayed that the kind girl could escape the horrid fate that awaited her if she had remained in the palace._

**VVVVVVV**

Sora's eyes snapped open as he jerked awake. Ever since the revolution, he couldn't get the sight of Princess Kairi's terrified stare out of his mind. But, at least he hadn't had the nightmare where he saw the bodies of all the other Hart children. Like so many others, he and Roxas had seen them after the massacre when they were practically put on display.

He thought over the grueling story in his mind. Princess Larxene had been the first to die at the hands of Marluxia. The gardener had always frightened Sora as a child, and for good reason, as it turned out. Then, King Ansem had sacrificed himself to try and give his family a chance to get away.

Queen Giselle and Princess Aurora had been found together, dead from a rain of gunshots, but the bodies of Princess Ariel and Prince Axel hadn't been with them. At first, stories of their survival were whispered as well, but their bodies were quickly located. As it turned out, Ariel had been wearing a corset laced with jewels and gemstones that her family had wanted her to sneak out, and had survived the gunfire. She had escaped with her little brother, only to be found by the rioters in the forest not far away. They had bludgeoned the two to death.

Princess Kairi, some whispered, had escaped the palace with her dear grandmother, but they were separated. Her body was the only one that had not been found, but those who did not believe in her survival claimed that she had died in the raging fires around the palace. Some of the revolutionaries claimed to have thrown her body in themselves.

Sora couldn't help but feel sickened at the thought of how anyone could be proud of killing anyone, let alone children.

He snapped out of his thoughts as he heard a sigh to his right. He glanced over and saw Kari staring out the window sadly. Roxas had vanished from their compartment, but Goofy was still asleep on the seat across from them.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked her, his brows furrowing together.

She snapped towards him and nodded her head. "Yeah, I guess, I don't know. It's just odd, leaving Radiant Garden after all of these years."

Sora shrugged a bit and said, "I guess, I don't know."

"But it was you're home, aren't you going to miss it?"

"No," he admitted. "It was a place I once lived. End of story."

She shot him an odd look before asking, "Not many good memories?"

"The only thing that would ever make me come back here is if my brother was still here," he explained to her. "And he's with me now. There's nothing here for me."

"So you must plan on making Destiny Islands you're true home?"

"What is it with you and homes?" Sora asked amusement laced through his voice.

"Well, for one thing, it's something every normal person has," Kari replied dryly. "And for another it's—well—you know---argh! Why do you have to be so frustrating?"

He looked on in amusement as she stood up to leave, and he stretched his legs across the seat. He didn't know what it was, but he found her angered face extremely…cute.

Kari growled in frustration and climbed over the seat. She looked around at Sora and was about to say something to him when Roxas entered the room. She seemed to weigh her options for a moment before pointing at Sora and saying, "Thank goodness. Remove him from my sight."

Roxas sighed and asked, "What did you do now, Sora?"

Sora stood up quickly and held his hands up. "Hey, I didn't do anything! She's the one who over reacted for no reason at all!"

"Overreacted, ha!" Kari said before leaving the room, Goofy (who had woken up while she walked over him) barking happily at her heels.

Roxas rolled his eyes and looked at his brother, who shrugged. The blond crossed his arms and said, "It hasn't even been a day since you met her, yet you're picking on her like little boys pick on the girl's they like."

Sora shook his head violently and said, "It's not my fault she keeps taking everything in the wrong context."

"Not the point. You're obviously attracted to her."

"Attrac—attracted to her?" Sora asked, his face burning red as a crossed look appeared on his features. He glared at his brother and said, "Why would I ever have an attraction to that—that skinny little brat?!" With that, Sora quickly left the compartment, stalking off in the opposite direction from Kari.

Roxas sat on the seat and shook his head. No attraction indeed.

**VVVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

Sorry for the shorter chapter. I don't have much to say this time, but I can say that today is an important day. There are so many people, mostly younger, who don't see as much importance in Remembrance Day anymore. With so few veterans left from WWI, and WWII, it's up to everyone else to make sure we all keep remembering. When we forget our own history, we always end up repeating it, and this is something none of us want to happen.

So, it doesn't matter if you're Canadian or not, at least take a moment of silence at 11:11 to remember. It's the very least we can do.

On another note, I thank you all for your reviews. And again, I didn't get to replying to all of them because of how busy I've been. That doesn't mean I appreciate them any less.

Thank you to Shire Folk, Topaz Tsubasa, catharsis25, DAN88, chasingfireflies and Zacheria. There are just a few points I need to make for everyone to see it from all the reviews:

**-**I'm sorry I couldn't have Xemnas sing 'In the Dark of the Night'. I contemplated it, but decided not to. Too OOC.

**-**Marketing really does suck.

**-**Roxas and Sora don't have any definitive proof that Kari is Kairi even though we all know she is.

**-**I know I mixed up 'Kari' and "Kairi' sometimes. Sometimes it'll be done on purpose, last chapter it was just a mistake.

**-**Yes, Riku is taking place of Bartok the bat in this.

Thank you everyone, you don't know how much I really do appreciate it. And remember, a moment of silence at 11:11 in the very least.

**Update**: While I'm a little disappointed that I now know it's more or less my hometown specifically where the younger generations care less and less about Remembrance Day, I'm overly happy to be proven wrong on a larger scale. I couldn't actually go to a Remembrance Day ceremony today, so I watched the one in Ottawa instead, and you have no idea how proud I was that one of the Veterans said it gets better every year and that there were more people participating everywhere.

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


	7. Sparks and Snow

**The Lost Princess**

_Chapter Six – Sparks and Snow_

Riku couldn't help but feel guilty as he watched Xehan—no, Xemnas, summon Heartless after Heartless. He had never seen this type before though, because there had never been a need for flying Heartless in the past. To catch up to a train though, they needed to be faster than the normal Heartless.

Riku, while he had been trained in the powers of darkness for years, and had acted as a guardian to the dark Keyblade, couldn't help but feel horrible. He wished that he had never stepped through the portal leading to Xemnas. Kairi—Kari ('Whatever.') hadn't done anything wrong, none of the Hart children had. Yes, King Ansem had, in reality, let Xehanort take the fall for the barbaric tests involving hearts, and the Queen had been a manipulative woman from the start, but never once had the children performed Xehanort a wrong.

Now, watching as Xemnas sent the Heartless after Kairi and her companions, Riku wanted nothing to do with his former master.

He decided, then and there, that while he would still use the powers of darkness, he would walk in the light. He was on his way to the dawn.

**VVVVVV**

Roxas was looking over his traveling papers as he walked down the halls of the train, eyeing it to make sure that everything was fine. He had compared it to the real travel papers that had been given to him, and it seemed to be exact, but there was something nagging in the back of his mind about it.

He got stopped behind a woman and a man who also had their papers out. While he waited to pass them, he couldn't help but overhear their conversation, and what he heard made his blood run cold.

"Last month, the travel papers were blue, but this month, they're red."

He craned his neck around to glance at the papers, and couldn't help but gasp with horror when he saw that the papers were indeed red. The ones he had made were blue and he didn't have time to make new ones.

Tearing off down the train, he could hear a worker finally coming around to check the papers. He ended up running into a woman, but paid her no mind as he continued move. She huffed angrily at him and commented about disrespectful young people, but he didn't particularly care.

"Sora," he gasped out as he threw open their compartment door, startling his twin and Goofy. Kari stayed asleep, huddled underneath both her jacket, and Sora's.

"What? Sora asked, eyes widening with worry. "What's wrong?"

"I really do hate this government," Roxas said as he turned his traveling papers around to show his brother. "Because everything's in red."

"Red?" Sora asked as he stood up. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Roxas said with a nod. "I suggest we move to the baggage car."

"I suggest we get off of this train," the brunet said. Roxas quickly grabbed some of his bags, and Sora urgently shook Kari.

"What?" Kari snapped as she flung an arm out, catching Sora by the nose.

He let out a grunt of pain as he stumbled back, his eyes watering violently.

"Sorry," Kari said as she jumped up and moved closer to him. "Are you alright?"

Sora waved his hand before saying, "We have to move. Grab you're things."

She shot him a curious look and quickly threw her coat on while grabbing Goofy, who was barking at of the window for some reason.

Sora put on his coat and grabbed his bags while muttering, "I think you broke my nose."

Kari sighed as she followed him outside of the compartment and, to Goofy, she said, "Men are such babies."

Sora led the way towards one of the front cars on the train, shivering as he entered it. Roxas walked in behind him and he forced a smile to appear on his face. "There, this is much better."

"You're kidding, right?" Roxas snapped while eyeing his brother's nose, which had started to bleed, oddly. "She'll freeze in here."

"It's the best we've got," Sora replied as he wiped his nose, wincing from the sharp pain that followed.

Kari shut the door behind her and looked around with a rather amused smile on her face. She looked directly at Sora and asked, "The baggage car? There wouldn't happen to be anything wrong with our travel papers, would there, maestro?"

"Not at all. I just didn't think it was right for you to be mingling with all those common folk, your highness."

Kari grinned a bit as she set down Goofy and her bags. She took a step towards Sora and touched his nose gently. He winced and tried to get away from her but she grabbed onto his face and said, "Don't be a baby. This will only hurt for a second, otherwise it'll be crooked."

Sora let out a yelp of pain as she managed to push his broken nose back into place. She then used the sleeve of her coat to dab the blood off of his face. "Sorry."

Through watering eyes, Sora nodded and went back to silently cursing under his breath. Kari sighed again and muttered something about being a baby before sitting down on one of the boxes. "Really, why did we come in here?"

"There may have been a slight, small, little problem with our travel papers," Roxas admitted reluctantly.

"Oh?"

"They were outdated."

She shot him a suspicious look but said nothing more about the subject. Instead she turned her attention to Goofy as he growled and barked at the door they had just come through.

"What's you're problem you silly puppy?" she asked him while pulling him into her arms. Goofy ignored her though, and continued to struggle against her grip, barking viciously at the door.

Roxas moved from where he had left his bag and went to open the door, when a loud explosion rocked the train. Sora fell onto the floor and Kari toppled on top of him, followed by several boxes.

Goofy was barking loudly from under one of the boxes, and Roxas pushed himself off of the floor, ignoring Sora and Kari's squabbling. He touched the door, but it simply fell off of its hinges and onto the train tracks below. Roxas' blue eyes widened with horror as he said, "We just lost the rest of the train."

Eventually, Sora and Kari managed to get themselves off of the floor and both of them moved closer to the door, watching as the front part of the train sped away from the second half.

Sora bit his lip before running to the other end and throwing the door open. He could see the engine burning brightly in front of them, burning more than it should have been. He glanced at his brother and Kari and said, "Wait here!"

Although he did it while stumbling, Sora managed to climb up the side of the car in front of them and made his way to the engine. Kari and Roxas both waited with worried looks in silence, until Kari said, "We're going too fast!"

Sora suddenly appeared in front of them before saying, "No one's driving this thing! We have to jump!"

"Did you say jump?" Kari exclaimed as he rushed to the side and threw open the larger door. Kneeling down side by side, Kari found herself staring at a large drop below her. She shot Sora an annoyed look before saying, "After you."

"We have to detach the engine then," Roxas said. "Then well eventually coast to a stop."

"I'm pretty sure we'll go off the track before that," Sora pointed out.

"Better than speeding with a raging inferno in front of us," Kari said to him.

Sora nodded and moved to where the two cars connected and stared at the metal oddly. It had been fine when he climbed onto it earlier to get to the front car, and now it was melted together for some odd reason.

"I need a hammer! Or something!" Sora cried out to his brother.

Roxas quickly dug around before finding a toolbox. He pulled out a hammer and handed it to his brother, who started pounding away at the metal.

Kari knew that Sora would never be able to break the other car away, so she kept looking around for something that could help. Goofy was barking loudly, and she was about to turn around to tell him to be quite when she stopped. A grin appeared on her face when she saw what he was barking at.

"Good, smart puppy," Kari said as she petted him on the head and pulled a stick of dynamite out o the broken box. As if fate was trying to save them, a piece of burning coal landed a few feet away from where Sora was.

The brunet growled angrily as the hammer broke in two and said, "I need something else!"

Kari quickly touched the dynamite to the still burning hot coal, which quickly started to burn. She then passed it to Sora, who stared at it for a second before saying, "That'll work."

Roxas grabbed Goofy as the three of them rushed back to hide behind several of the crates. Sora pushed Kari to the floor, shielding her with his body as he said, "What do they teach you in those orphanages?"

She didn't have the chance to answer as the dynamite exploded, effectively separating the baggage car from the engine.

"There," Sora said, once he hoisted Kari to her feet. "Now all we have to do is wait until we coast to a stop."

None of them except for Goofy noticed several dark figures warp together into a large creature that effectively threw something at the bridge the train tracks led to.

The three of them looked over at the thundering crash that signified the bridge's destruction.

Roxas shot a disbelieving look at his brother and said, "You were saying?"

Sora shot his brother a quick look before looking around the remainder of the train wildly. They needed to find a way to slow it down so that they could jump off without killing themselves.

Suddenly, a chain and hook caught his eye. For a moment, he wondered what the odds were that they'd find dynamite and a hook and chain in the same baggage cart, but decided not to question it. For all he knew, this shipment was for the Head of State, Pence Lenin.

Instead, he rushed forward and grabbed it before yelling, "Roxas, I'll need your help!"

The blond nodded and tried to get over to him, but ended up tripping over some spare luggage and smashing his head onto one of the boxes. He let out a groan, barely conscious on the floor, but Sora didn't notice because he was already climbing down the bottom of the train.

"Pass me the chain!" he yelled up. Kari appeared above him with the chain and he said, "Not you! You could get hurt!"

"Roxas is busy bashing the rest of his brain cells at the moment," she argued, and he took the chain from her, knowing that there was no time to argue. He managed to wrap it around the bottom of the train securely. Sora started to climb back up when a piece from towards the front of the car snapped off, flinging towards him.

Sora tried to reach up and grab the door, but his hand slipped and he fell backwards.

Kari's hand shot out and grabbed a hold of him, using all of the strength she had to pull him back towards the door. He managed to grab onto the door to secure himself, just in time to see a tree behind them get impaled by the shrapnel that had flung towards him.

"To think that could have been you," Kari said with a raised eyebrow as he climbed back onto the train.

"If we live through this," he said seriously. "Remind me to thank you. Help me. Rox! Get up! We're gonna jump!"

Roxas groaned and managed to push himself off of the floor while holding his bruise and bleeding head. Goofy yipped loudly as the blond grabbed a hold of him.

Kari let out a grunt as she and Sora pushed the hook and chain out the back of the train car, watching it grapple onto the train track.

The force of the moving train caused the wooden tracks to shatter, but at the same time, the train also ended up twisting onto its side, a shower of snow and sparks igniting around them.

As quickly as possible while being tossed around. They all managed to get what few things they could find, and they jumped.

Sora let out a groan as he pushed himself out of the snow and watched as the car they had been in followed the engine off of the broken bridge. A loud explosion followed the crash, which Sora attributed to hot coal from the engine meeting the dynamite that had been loaded into the baggage car.

"Is everyone alright?" Sora asked with a groan. "Rox? Kairi?"

They both nodded, although Roxas was holding his head in obvious pain. He shot his brother a dark look and said, "I hate trains. Remind me never to get on one again."

Kari was breathing deeply, holding Goofy close to her, trying to hide the tears of relief that were falling down her cheeks. She had thought they were going to die then and there.

She looked towards where the remainder of the train had vanished off the side of the cliff, and stared at the visible fire.

For a moment, she was sitting in a beautifully decorated room. It was a child's room, a young boy's from the looks of it, but it was still magnificent. She watched a little boy with fiery red hair that was spiked backwards laughing happily and clapping at the burning curtains in front of him as several maids attempted to put it out.

The boy turned around, and looked directly at Kari. He smiled broadly and waved at her, but as he did, the rest of the room caught fire.

It raged, catching the curtains, the sheets of the bed, and any toys that were strewn around. She heard some rapid footsteps and quickly turned around, watching a red haired girl run passed. There was something so familiar about her, and about the elderly lady that ran passed her after the girl.

Kari wanted to run after them, but a warm hand on her shoulder broke her out of her stupor. She glanced up at Sora, who was sending her a worried look, and smiled at him reassuringly. She didn't want him to know that she was having strange, and in some cases, disturbing, hallucinations.

Sora picked up her bag and pushed his hand gently on the small of her back. She picked up Goofy and went over to Roxas, who was holding his head in his hands and sitting on his suitcase.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kari asked him with worry.

"I'll live," he answered dryly. "No need to worry about that, Princess."

Kari nodded as he stood up and picked up the case he had been sitting on. He took a deep breath before glancing at his twin and asking, "What now?"

"We need to get to Twilight Town still," Sora said thoughtfully. "Either way, we're in the middle of nowhere, so we better start walking before it gets too late and we freeze out here."

Roxas nodded before saying, "Alright. I'll lead the way, and Sora, make sure nothing happens to her."

Sora shot his brother an encouraging smile and Kari gave them both a curious glance. As if reading her mind, Sora explained, "Roxas has an amazing since of direction. I don't feel like getting lost, so he might as well lead."

"Oh, okay," she said as they all started walking. She tilted her head with thought and said, "Why did you call me Kairi? When you were asking if I was alright?"

Sora seemed startled at the question, and in that moment she realized that he hadn't done it on purpose. He shrugged and said, "Well, I guess that's what we should start calling you. If you truly are the Imperial Princess, then you should be used to the name, right?"

"Well, I guess, but even if it really is my name, it's not like anyone would really expect me to answer to it right away, right?" Kari asked.

Sora shrugged and Roxas said, "Rumor has it that the former Queen is pretty stubborn about inconsistencies like that. I mean there's a small, slight chance that…well…even if you truly are Kairi, like we believe you are, she may not believe it. Frauds and imposters have been coming forth since the Princess was lost."

Sora rapidly shook his head at Roxas, who quickly stopped talking and concentrated on watching where they were going. Hopefully they'd find some sort of shelter before it became too dark out. He wasn't looking forward to spending the night outside during a Radiant Garden winter.

**VVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

So last Thursday my computer decided it'd be fun to die on me. Something about the Logic board or video card breaking. I have no clue. All I know is that I freaked because I had an essay due Friday and guess where the good copy was? Needless to say, I spent all night working on that again.

First off, I wanted to assure anyone of you who make think that this is going to continue to be overly predictable, that watching the ending of Anastasia is going to do you no good here. Hint one: Riku and his reactions towards Xemnas. That's going to be looked into more and built upon.

There you go Shire Folk. Pence Lenin. Seriously, I rewrote that tiny part in just for the laughs.

And there's once or twice Sora called Kari 'Kairi' instead. This is not a mistake, it was done on purpose. You'll notice that Kairi will slowly just start replacing Kari as the story goes on.

Thank you to Eragonmetal6, Topaz Tsubasa, Shire Folk, catharsis25, DAN88, Trainalf, chasingfireflies, Solarian Princess and Narwe.

I hope no screens were hurt in the process of reading this chapter (Topaz). Just so everyone knows, Maleficent won't be appearing in this at all. If anyone of you die due to double performances, I'm going to be very disappointed (chasingfireflies).

PS. Shire Folk – I gotta stop having long message convos with you. It causes a lack of interesting things to say in a review!

You guys are great! Hope you enjoyed this chapter too! I know the Heartless didn't REALLY make an appearance, but that's kind of the point right now.

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


	8. Into Twilight

**The Lost Princess**

_Chapter Seven – Into Twilight_

It was official, Kari really hated winter. If it wasn't for the constant presence of her puppy, Goofy, pressed to her, or Sora's warmth as she cuddle up to him, she probably would have frozen long ago.

Never once had she expected to have to sleep inside of a snow fort (during this trip), and she never expected to have to cuddle up to a person she had just met not to long ago. Part of her almost felt like she had met Sora somewhere before. Something in the back of her mind screamed at her that she had seen him before, at the very least. It was possible that he and Roxas had been at the orphanage for a short period of time when they were younger. They were both orphans, and she had barely paid attention to anyone else at first.

At the same time, she wondered about Sora and Roxas. Every once and awhile, she would hear them whispering in very low voices when they thought she was asleep, snuggled up against Sora's side. Roxas would say that they should be honest, and Sora saying that they were. Sometimes, it almost seemed like they were speaking with their eyes.

She wondered if they really could.

Kari knew that they were hiding something from her, and she knew she had a choice to make. She could confront them about it, and possibly start an argument that would leave her stranded in the frozen forests of Radiant Garden, or she could simply go along with them for now. While she had no idea what they were up to, she knew that it wouldn't cause her any physical harm.

She also couldn't help but notice the fact that both of them had taken to calling her 'Kairi' or 'Princess' at odd times. Sora had explained that they were trying to slowly get her used to the name while continuing to call her Kari as well, since that's what she responded to.

Of course, now that she thought about it, she couldn't really call Sora and Roxas strangers anymore. After all, they had been walking through the cold forests for almost a week now. Luckily, they had managed to find shelter with welcoming families for the most part. There were a few times that they were forced to build a cave of snow, but it had been surprisingly warm inside.

Once everyone was up and ready to go, Goofy barked happily as he pranced through the snow in front of them. Kari smiled warmly at her dog before jumping at Roxas' sudden, happy yell.

She looked over at him curiously as he pointed in the distance and said, "Look, you can see the snow thinning out. We're almost out of Radiant Garden. If we keep going, we should at least reach the border, and warmer weather, by nightfall."

"Wait, how's that possible?" Kari asked with a frown. "How can you be sure that it'll be warmer in Twilight than here? It's not separated by much."

"No," Roxas agreed. "But, it's not normal really. You'll know when we've reached the border, because Radiant Garden will still have frost on the ground, and Twilight will have pure grass. It's a perfect cut off, almost like a person does it on purpose."

A confused look passed over her features and Sora shrugged while saying, "No one really understands why it happens like that. Some people say it's a punishment for the people who betrayed the Hart family and killed them all in cold blood."

"Do you believe that, Sora?"

He frowned a bit while remembering that night ten years ago when Xehanort had placed a curse on the Hart family. It had come true, hadn't it?

"I don't know," he said to her. "But if a curse like that does exist, I want to be away from it."

**VVVVVVVVVV**

"_Stop splashing me!"_

_Laughter echoed through the air as she continued to splash the rather angry blonde girl, whose green eyes were narrowed angrily. The second blonde with warm lavender eyes simply shrugged and smiled at the girls splashing them._

_Beside her, helping her splash the older two, was a girl with fiery red hair. They both laughed happily, and a young child not far from them clapped his hands eagerly._

"_Girls, be nice to your older sisters!"_

_The redhead with sea blue eyes pouted and said, "But mommy, we're just having fun. Xene is just cranky. Rory doesn't mind." _

"_You're being a bad influence for Axel," the girl, Xene, snapped while pointing at the happy, young boy._

_Both of the redheaded girls rolled their eyes, the older saying, "He sets things on fire and he's only three."_

_Listening to the people talk around her, the youngest redheaded girl couldn't help but smile. Her family really was quite crazy…_

**VVVVVVVVVV**

With a happy sigh, Kari's mind slowly came back to consciousness. She didn't want to wake up, but she knew it was going to be nice out. It was amazing how quickly the temperature changed from super cold to nice from just passing over the border of Radiant Garden into Twilight. Now they just needed to get to it's capital: Twilight Town.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open and she found herself curled up at Sora's side, her head resting under his chin. She grinned a bit and peaked over his body only to see Roxas a few feet away from them with Goofy on his stomach.

Kari moved a bit away from Sora and stared at him with both amusement and affection. Her hand moved up to his hair and she started playing with one of the spikes that amused and fascinated her. She never understood how both boys could have such spiky hair that was soft at the same time.

She trailed her finger from his hand down his cheek, and Sora started to stir a bit. She didn't move her hand as his eyes opened, focusing on her.

She couldn't help but giggle as she watched the blush cross his features. She could feel her own blush started to rise in her cheeks when she felt his warm breath tickle her face and she realized how close they really were.

They continued staring at each other and unconsciously began moving closer together. Kari felt her eyes start to close when she felt Sora's lips very lightly meet her own, but they quickly jumped a part when Roxas let out a loud yawn.

Now, Sora's face was beet red as he gently shoved her off of him and stuttered some excuse, rushing into the nearby trees.

Kari couldn't help but blush violently and send a heating glare in Roxas' direction. The blond looked at her in confusion as Goofy rushed off of him stomach and ran over to her, barking happily as he rushed around her.

"What?" Roxas asked.

"You are such a—argh!" She crossed her arms and looked away from him.

Sora appeared out of the trees a few minutes later, and Roxas' eyes trailed from him to Kari and back, a knowing grin appearing on his face. Being stuck in the wild with a person for a few weeks brought people closer together, that was for sure.

"It'll probably take us about two weeks to get to Twilight Town," Roxas said after they got moving. "That's with stopping to sleep, of course."

"We're going to walk all that way?" Kari grumbled.

"No you're highness," Sora answered, a bashful but playful grin crossing his face. "We'll take a bus and it should cut the trip in half, right?" The last part was directed at his brother.

Roxas thought about it for a moment before nodding his head and saying, "Probably. Then we'll be taking the boat from Twilight Town to Destiny Islands. Then…" A goofy grinned covered Roxas' face. "Then we get to see Nami."

"What?" Kari asked with confusion.

"Naminé," Roxas said in a rather dreamy voice that was very unlike him. He was usually the serious one out of the twins. "So beautiful, like the whitest of roses or the bright lilies."

Sora laughed weakly and shot Roxas a glare and said, "Ixnay aminenay."

"Who's Naminé?" Kari asked with confusion. "A garden?"

"No one, no one important. Just a girl Roxas met," Sora answered quickly.

"No one important?" Roxas asked, for a moment forgetting where they were. "Naminé is the only remaining relative of the former Queen! Her second cousin, or something to that effect. Enough to keep her in the family, but not enough to have her in Radiant Garden the night of the revolution."

"Wait," Kari said, a thoughtful look passing over her face. "Why are we going to see Naminé? I thought we were going to see the former queen herself." There was a pause before she rounded around quickly on Sora, who looked like he wanted to shrink into the ground at the moment, a sheepish smile on his face. "Sora?"

He stuttered a bit under her demanding tone, and said, "No one gets to the former Queen without convincing Naminé first. She and Princess Kairi were pretty good friends when they were together, you see, and—"

"You want me to lie?" Kari interrupted. "Oh no, no. Not me. No! No one told me I had to prove I was the Princess! Show up, yes, and look nice, fine, but lie?"

The two were face-to-face, just like in the morning, but this time there were glares being thrown at each other instead of warm, affectionate looks.

"How do you know it's a lie? What if it's true?"

Kari continued staring at him for a moment before groaning angrily and turning away from Sora and walking over to the bridge they had passed over moments before. She leaned against the edge of it, frowning as she looked at her reflection in the water below.

Roxas walked over to her and looked at their reflections. "When you look at you're reflection, who do you see?"

"Me?" she seemed to ponder this before a second before groaning and saying, "I see a skinny little nobody, with no past, and no future." She turned away from the reflections and leaned her back against the rail.

"Want to know what I see?" Roxas asked. Kari looked over at him curious as he said, "I see a—fiery young woman who, as far as I've seen, commands as much respect as any royal."

Roxas looked over at his brother, who was looking at something in his bag before adding, "Sora wouldn't want me saying this, but we've both met our fair share of royalty. I wish I could say it was because we had some sort of grand titles or something, but we never did. We worked at the palace, you see."

"You worked for the Hart family?" Kari asked with surprise.

Roxas nodded and said, "I usually kept to the kitchens like we were supposed to, but Sora was a bit of a trouble maker. He always ran off to explore. He actually knew Princess Kairi, you know."

This startled her as well as she looked around at Sora with surprised eyes. She looked back at his twin and asked, "Did he?"

Roxas nodded and said, "Yeah, and he's assured you more than once that you're like her. They weren't friends, but she knew his name when she saw him, which was something remarkable for a servant, especially one our age."

Kari seemed to mull this over for a moment before walking over to Sora and asking, "Do you really believe that I'm her? Answer me honestly, Sora."

He seemed startled by the question and eyed her for a moment. More than anything, he wanted to tell her that it was a scheme he and Roxas had cooked up (he knew Roxas wanted him to tell her), but at the same time, he didn't want to say anything. Part of his mind, and his heart, said that she really was the Princess. Until he had proof though, he wasn't going to tell his brother.

"Yes," Sora answered. It was the truth; he really did believe that she was Princess Kairi. She was the right age, she had the right looks, she coincidentally didn't have any memories from before she was eight (the same age Kairi had been when the revolution happened), and her name was extremely similar.

He knew Roxas saw these similarities, but he had never been close up to Princess Kairi for long periods of time, nor had he ever spoken to her. Roxas also didn't know for sure if she got out of the castle. Sora knew for a fact that she got out of the castle, and he had a strong feeling that she survived and was standing in front of him.

Roxas frowned at him and Kari smiled a bit. She nodded her head to him and said, "Gentlemen, begin you're teaching."

Goofy barked as he clumsily ran around them and Roxas said, "Alright. There are a few things you need to know."

"Facts about your life," Sora stated.

"You need to relearn certain things you knew before."

"A lot of stuff?" Kari asked.

Sora and Roxas shared identical grins before saying, "You have no idea."

**VVVVVVVVVV**

Laughter escaped Kari's lips as she followed Sora and Roxas onto the ship in Twilight Town. She had learned so much in the last week about herself. Yes, she too was starting to believe in their theory of her being the Princess. She even answered to the name Kairi without much of a thought.

It wasn't just their persuasion that convinced her. Sora and Roxas had first showed her the simple things, like how to walk and sit with proper posture, and how to keep her balance a little better (She was forced to, because they shoved her on a log with a fairly decent drop underneath.) and then they went onto family history. She had been born by a palace by the sea, as had her elder sister, Ariel. She had been a rather energetic child who was known to be kind, but at the same time, quite the wild child.

They kept working on family history, which she was remembering amazingly well. It was almost like she already knew everything, and was just being reminded. At the same time, they started teaching her some things that Kairi had known. For instance, riding a horse. She had been a natural, and had been completely comfortable on the creature's back, as had Roxas. He whispered to her that he used to work in the stables sometimes as well. Sora, however, had failed miserably at riding a horse.

In turn though, Sora road circles around them on the bikes, and he knew how to drive a car, much to Kari's surprise.

More and more, as they 'trained' her, per say, she dreamt of different events. More often than not, Aurora, Larxene, Ariel and Axel were in her dreams laughing and smiling with her (or grimacing, in Larxene's case). Kari—Kairi—sometimes wondered if she was just fabricating these images from what Sora and Roxas had told her. She desperately wanted to believe that they were all true though.

On a personal, bonus side, one that Kari had yet to mention to either of her companions, she was delighted with how much closer she had become with Sora. She was so comfortable, yet so tense around him at all times.

Part of her prayed that she was indeed Princess Kairi, because then she could find the remaining family that she had always dreamed of. Then again, once she found them, she would most likely lose Sora. Princesses did not marry kitchen boys. If she wasn't Kairi though…

A soft blush appeared on her face at the thought. She had only had a—well—more of a partial peck than an actual kiss with him, and she was already thinking about marrying him.

She smiled softly as she watched Sora and Roxas lead the way to their room on the ship. What the future had in store for her, she didn't know, but she was eager to find out.

**VVVVVVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

I was going to say 'Sorry for the wait' and everything, but in retrospect, compared to other author's, even now I update fairly quickly. My chapters are usually shorter than those who take longer to update though (Like Shire Folk's Annials of Darkness [go read it]), so it usually works out pretty well. Unless your name is chasingfireflies. Versagen.

Thank you to all the reviewers! You guys always make my day. Holy crap I'm going to be late for my Arts class! Brb

Lmao really, I don't know why I put that there cause it doesn't make a difference to anyone, but I really did run off to my Arts class. My friends and I do this whenever we email each other.

Anyway, the following people are just plain awesome: Narwe, Shire Folk, DAN88, chasingfireflies, Trainalf, Topaz Tsubasa, Redeeming Endeavor and Solarian Princess.

Really though, people should review or 3-year-old Axel will sneak into your room and burn your curtains…wait…that might make less people review…nevermind….

Luv you all lots!

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


	9. The Wind and the Rain

**The Lost Princess**

_Chapter Eight: The Wind and the Rain_

Riku's life consisted of almost nothing but listening to Xemans rant for the past few weeks. It wasn't even the type of rant that could easily be made fun of later. No, everything Xemnas did was rather boring now. He would pace constantly, and speak in a monotone, dull voice.

Still, Riku knew that Xemnas, although he never raised his voice, was absolutely furious that the Heartless had failed in killing Princess Kairi. Riku also knew that it would have been more effective if the Heartless had attacked her directly instead of attempting to sabotage the train. He didn't want Kairi dead though, so he stayed silently. The only reason he continued to stay with Xemnas was because he wanted to know what the insane, half-a-human (Or a Nobody, as he called himself.) was planning next. That, and Riku had no clue how to get out of the World that Never Was.

Xemnas' reasons for doing for sending the Heartless after the train instead of her were obvious though. Kairi had managed to destroy his own Heartless years before; there was a strong possibility that she might have been able to kill the others if she really needed to.

Now though, Xemnas' original plan had failed, and Riku was really beginning to fear for the Princess, her two friends, and the dog that followed them.

What was planned next was undoubtedly cruel.

**VVVVVVVV**

"Hey."

Kari turned around, looking at Sora as he approached her curiously. She had been sitting in the hall of the ship reading a book with Goofy snoozing faithfully at her side.

She couldn't help but notice his clothes first, and how different they looked. His long pants and shirt were replaced with black shorts with looping yellow belts and red pouches, and a navy shirt with a black sweater over it. Kairi quickly approved of the look, finding it more suitable than what he wore in the cold. She always had the impression that he would have taken to living in warmer weathers over the snow.

"Here," he said quickly and handed her a package while blushing slightly. "Destiny Islands gets pretty hot, and I figured that you would need something more appropriate than what you're wearing."

Kari grinned broadly before saying, "Really? For me?" She opened the package quickly and held out the rose pink dress. She stared at it oddly for a moment; both amusement and a light blush passing over her features.

"What?" Sora asked her as she started looking at the rest of the package with a playful smile on her face. She looked at the bracelets, shoes, white camisole, belt and pouch, as she seemed to search for something. "What are you looking for?"

"The rest of the dress," she replied as Sora's blush deepened.

"Well—ummm—Destiny Islands is pretty hot and this is what most people wear and…well Roxas was there before but I wasn't and—just try it on," Sora stuttered before walking away while scratching his head.

Kari looked at the dress curiously and Goofy barked at her while wagging his tail. She giggled a bit before walking into their empty cabin.

**VVVVVVVV**

"Kari is a dream come true," Roxas decided as he adjusted his lighter clothes. "She's memorized everything perfectly and she knows how to do almost everything we trained her to do. It was almost like she really did know all of this before."

Sora nodded his head and lifted his feet as Goofy ran under them, barking wildly. He heard footsteps behind him and quickly turned, a smile on his face. The smile vanished as he saw Kari with her hair down for the first time, and in the dress he had bought her.

My god, he thought, she's gorgeous.

Roxas laughed and said, "You're definitely radiant enough to be the Princess of Radiant Garden."

Kari snorted and punched Roxas in the shoulder and saying, "How long have you been waiting to use that?"

"A while now," he admitted. "But you were always so skuzzy looking."

She punched his arm again before turning to Sora and spinning around, "Well?"

"You—I—urm—" Sora stuttered, a deep red flush rising up his cheeks.

Roxas rolled his eyes at his brother and elbowed him sharply, causing Sora to jump and shoot him a quick glare. In return, Roxas shot him a mischievous look and said, "There's one important thing we didn't teach you, your highness, and it's really important. Sora agreed to help you."

Worry passed over Kari's face and Sora shot Roxas an odd look before the blond dramatically said, "You have to learn to dance."

"What?" Sora asked quickly as Kari grinned and nodded her head enthusiastically. He gave her a rather bashful look at she glanced his way expectantly. "Er, I'm actually not that good of a dancer."

"Better than me," Roxas encouraged, although they both knew that wasn't true. Roxas was actually the better dancer of the two, but that's because Naminé had showed him how the last time he had seen her.

Sora was about to protest but Kari walked up to him and smiled brightly. He sighed and reluctantly positioned his hand on her waist and took her free hand into his. She looked confused for a moment before he said, "Put your other hand on my arm."

She nodded her head and after a moment they started moving, but quickly stopped when Roxas started laughing and Goofy started barking. "No, no," Roxas said with amusement. "You let him lead."

Kari nodded again and they started moving around the deck of the ship rather slowly at first, concentrating on not stepping on each other's feet before becoming comfortable enough to focus on exactly how they were dancing.

Sora glanced up and found himself staring directly into her indigo eyes, and gulped nervously before saying, "That dress—well it look's really nice."

She didn't blink, but kept staring up at him as she said, "Thank you."

"I mean, I know it wasn't super expensive or anything and I thought it'd look nice but I didn't really know. I looks really nice though, and—I hope you don't find it too short. I didn't think it was but—"

"You're rambling," Kari replied, an amused smile spreading over her face. She giggled quickly as a deep blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Am I? Sorry," he looked entirely too embarrassed for her not to be amused.

"It's alright."

They continued silently for a moment, Sora wincing as Kari managed to step on his foot every once and a while. Not that her feet were spared either. Roxas had to stop them every now and then, but they were doing fairly well for being absolutely hopeless.

After a little while, Kari yawned and said, "I'm getting tired."

"Want to stop?" Sora asked her. "You're getting the hang of it. You probably won't be dancing with someone who has massive feet anyway."

She let a small hum out of her throat as she buried her head into the fabric of his shirt and saying, "You'd look too weird without you're 'massive feet'. It gives you character."

Roxas snickered a bit and Sora glared at him before turning his attention to Kari as she leaned on him a little more. She yawned against his neck, causing him to jump a bit, and she laughed.

"Come on then, Princess," Sora said with amusement when he regained his composure. "Lets get you back to the room then, if you're going to fall asleep."

"But I don't wanna walk," she whined.

"How do you propose we get you can then?"

"Carry me?"

Sora blushed bright and looked at his brother, who quickly scooped up Goofy and said, "My hands as full. She's the princess man, you've got to listen to her."

He sighed as Roxas walked passed him, and quickly picked up Kari, who hadn't really been expecting him to. She let out a small shriek and gripped his neck tightly. She was tense for a minute as he began walking, but once she realized he wasn't going to drop her, she relaxed.

"Sora?"

"Yeah?" he asked while glancing down at her.

She moved quickly, kissing him on the cheek before resting her head on his shoulder without saying another word.

**VVVVVVVV**

Roxas leaned back against the wall while observing Kari, who was playing with Goofy. It was good to see her smiling again. After Sora had rushed off earlier, she had seemed rather down and sad for a while. Even now, he could see how she would shoot a look towards his slumbering brother, who had insisted on taking the floor.

He smiled slightly and said, "I envy him."

Kari looked up at him before glancing over at Sora and asking, "Why?"

"Well, the obvious reason is that he can sleep through anything," Roxas replied with a laugh. "But it's more than that really. He's so optimistic. Sora lives with a smile on his face, and he rarely ever thinks of himself. I mean, yeah, he likes to get ahead too but…"

Roxas didn't know what else to say. It was true, watching Sora from day to day, he was really helpful and almost selfless, and that made the scheme to get Kari to act as Kairi even more out of character.

Part of him wondered if all of this really was for the money like Sora claimed it was, or if there was something bigger running through his brother's head.

Kari giggled a bit and said, "The lazy bum." As if to prove her point, Goofy dashed over to Sora and tried to get to him, but ended up stumbling over his bag, and a star shaped charm fell out of it and slid to Kari's feet.

Kari reached forward and picked it up, stair at the shining object in her hand.

Roxas chuckled a bit as she stared at it in awe and said, "Pretty charm, isn't it?"

"A charm?" Kari asked curiously as she stared at it. "Are you sure that's what it is?"

"What else could it be?" he replied.

As she stared at it, she could hear a faint song playing in the back of her mind, and she could see people in glittering glows twirling around her, just like back in the palace ballroom. "I don't know. Something special. Something like a secret." She broke out of her thoughts and started laughing as Goofy ran up and jumped on her. She put the charm back in the bag and climbed onto the bed.

Roxas climbed up onto the bunk above her and she asked, "Do you think that's possible?"

"You pretty much taught Sora to dance," Roxas said with a laugh. "Anything's possible."

She grinned broadly and said, "Goodnight Roxas." She then situated Goofy beside her, and he quickly fell asleep.

"Goodnight, Princess," he replied sleepily.

**VVVVVVVV**

"Little princess is sound sleep," Riku said to Xemnas while looking in the swirling black smoke in front of him.

"Excellent," Xemnas said as he stepped forward. He pointed the Keyblade at the black smoke, and for a moment, several pale shapes twisted around them before vanishing and appearing on the other side of the smoke.

Riku blinked with surprise and said, "What are they?"

"Nobodies like myself. The other half of a Heartless. These particular ones are a new, beautiful creation I've just perfected. Illusion Nobodies are my first attack, but should they fail, Dusks are being sent as well. If something goes wrong with them, I have a nasty surprise in store though."

"Illusion? Dusks?" Riku muttered and watched as they moved towards Kairi. They stood around her body for a moment before slowly blurring out of sight. There were a couple others in the room that seemed to bend around the door and slip out of sight. "Where did the ones that just vanished go?"

Xemnas stared with what could only be described as a memory of satisfaction and said, "Into her mind."

**VVVVVVVV**

Kari was humming happily as she sat on a bench in a beautiful garden, enjoying the warm air on her face. She giggles as two butterflies flew around her head, and stood up to get a better look at them. She flattened out her nice, pink dress that was the common fashion for aristocratic women to wear on a daily basis.

"Kairi!"

She turned around and saw a young man standing before her. He was taller than she was, but she knew that he was younger than her. While she was eighteen, she knew for a fact that he was only fifteen.

"Come on!" he called out to her, his red spikes moving as he motioned for her to follow before turning and rushing into the palace doors behind him.

Kari hesitated for a moment before quickly rushing after him, giggling as she said, "Wait for me, Axel!"

Goofy jerked out of his slumber as Kari pushed herself out of the bed. She blindly stumbled passed Sora, and to the door, eyes still closed. Goofy let out a bark that was eclipsed by the raging storm outside as she opened the door and stumbled out. Goofy tried to follow her, but the door closed before he could.

Kari laughed happily as she walked after Axel. She stumbled a bit –

--And hit one of the walls that protected the interior of the ship. She giggled at her clumsiness and pushed herself up again, determined on following her younger brother.

Goofy barked wildly and quickly threw himself at Sora. He barked in the young man's ears and jumped on him, as Sora struggled to ignore him. Finally, Sora let out a groan and shot up, grabbing Goofy into his arms before snapping, "What? What do you wan—" His eyes caught sight of the empty bed, and Roxas slumbering peacefully up top (he too could sleep through anything once he was asleep). The sound of the raging storm reached his ears and a terrified feeling passed through him. "Kari."

He dropped Goofy to the ground and shot up. He stumbled through the door, crashing into the parallel wall as the ship rocked violently. He rushed towards the stairs, and Goofy dashed behind him, barking. The little dog couldn't get up the stairs though.

Kari watched as Axel leapt over the ledge of a railing. She looked right and left, and noticed (with building suspicion) that both of the stairways were blocked. Something didn't feel right about this at all.

She carefully walked towards the ledge and looked over –

--she walked towards the edge of the rocking ship, holding onto the edge tightly as she looked over cautiously.

"Kari!" Sora yelled while looking around wildly for her. "Kari!" He quickly flipped up the stairs, grabbing onto one of the ropes that still securely clung to the mast of the ship, but had fallen loose early. He looked around and finally he found her. She wasn't responding to him though, and she was dangerously close to the edge of the ship. "Kairi!"

Kari suddenly whipped around as Sora's voice assaulted her ears. She could hear Axel below her, yelling at her angrily to jump and go with him and their sisters. She ignored him though, drawn more to Sora's voice.

Sora sighed with relief as her eyes snapped opened as she looked at him. She seemed shocked that she was at the edge of the ship and quickly stumbled away from it. That's when he saw them. There were white shapes bending around the masts like large snakes, and they were heading towards Kari.

She let out a scream as the creatures grabbed a hold of her arms. She didn't know what they were, but they were dragging her towards the edge of the ship.

Sora quickly grabbed onto the rope and slung himself down the deck quickly, kicking one of the creatures away from her before letting go and stumbling onto the ground. He then dashed at the other one and threw himself at it, trying to drag the creature off of her.

Kari fell backwards onto the slippery deck as the creatures were forcefully pulled off of her. She watched with horror as one of the creatures wrapped it's arms (or at least, what she assumed was it's arms.) around Sora's neck.

"Get off of him!" she yelled and grabbed at the creature. It seemed to almost hiss in pain as she tried to yank it off of Sora, whose face was coloring in a horrifying way. It let go, moving away from the two people. The others that looked identical to is swayed back at forth for a moment before suddenly vanishing.

Sora took in a deep breath before grabbing Kari close and hugging her. Kari buried her head into his shoulder as she heard a dark voice whisper around her, "You all must die. The Hart curse. You all must die!"

She let out a sob and hugged him close, saying, "Sora." Her body was still in shock over what had just happened. "The curse. The Hart curse!"

"Shh," he muttered as he rubbed her back. "It's okay, Kari, everything will be alright. You're okay. I don't know what those things are, but I won't let them hurt you."

Kari backed away from him and stared into his eyes. She opened her mouth to say something when the ship lurched dangerously. She fell into him and looked around fearfully as crewmembers started running around them.

"We've hit something!" one of the sailors yelled.

"Hit what? We're in the middle of the goddamn ocean!" someone yelled back.

"Come on," Sora said urgently. "We gotta wake up Roxas. I have a bad feeling about this." He tried to get her to stand up, but her body shook violently and stumbled against him. He stared at her face and noticed that it was paler than normal, and her eyes were shooting around the ship in panic. He reached down and picked her up carefully in the same way he had earlier, not caring that she clenched onto the skin of his collarbone instead of his shirt.

Keeping a tight grip on her, he made his way down the stairs towards the room they were staying in. He had a very bad feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Those white—things had vanished much too quickly for his liking.

Roxas was already at the door by the time Sora got there, wide away and looking terribly worried. Before he could ask anything Sora quickly said, "Get our stuff now."

"Why would I—"

A loud, groaning sound echoed around them, but this wasn't coming from outside, it was coming from the ship itself. Almost like the steel itself was crying out in pain. Kari, who still seemed traumatized from what had almost happened earlier, whimpered and hid her face in Sora's neck again.

Roxas shot towards the bags and instead of taking more than one of them, he shoved everything into a single bag and put it on his shoulder before grabbing Goofy. They started making their way towards the deck, just as one of the crew appeared in front of them.

"Good," he said quickly, easily out of breath. "Get into the lifeboat over there with some other passengers and some of the crew."

"What's going on?" Roxas asked the man.

"It's—"

Another groaning sound interrupted them, but this time it wasn't from the steel of the ship. Everyone froze and looked around at the same time to the portside of the ship. The water seemed to be calm for a moment before breaking open as a giant jellyfish with an odd, almost heart shaped symbol on it, appeared, grappling onto the side of the boat.

"What in gods name is that?" Sora asked, his eyes widening. Kari struggled in his arms a bit, and he quickly set her down, but she didn't go far, opting for squeezing his arm instead.

"Get in the lifeboat!" the sailor yelled at them as the creature's weight started to tip the boat a bit.

"Won't it attack us?" Roxas asked as they moved over to one of the small boats.

"It seems pretty focused on the boat," one of the sailors that was in the lifeboat with them noted.

That much was true. There were more of these giant jellyfish around the boat, but even as their smaller boats were lowered into the water, they were ignored.

"Oh my god," Kari muttered as she moved closer to Sora. The tentacles of the creatures were starting to engulf the boat.

"What are those symbols on it?" Roxas muttered, squinting his eyes. "I think I've seen it before."

Goofy was barking wildly at the edge of their small boat. At first, they all assumed that he was only barking at the large jellyfish, as they got farther away from them, or the other boats that were around them. It was one of the sailors that looked over the edge of the small boat and leaned closer, having seen something.

Kari let out a horrified scream when a green…thing jumped appeared out of the water and dragged the man down with it. It had the same symbol as the large jellyfish on it.

Roxas let out a few choice words and winced when a spear was tossed out of the water, scraping his arm.

"What are those?" Sora asked. Several more of the creatures appeared, their round yellow eyes staring at back at the people in the boats.

"Those are the things I saw! The ones puncturing the ship!" a man yelled. The creatures stared at them for a moment before ducking back into the water.

"It's okay," Sora whispered to Kari as he held her close. "Everything will be fine."

"Tell me that when there's not a mass amount of monsters surrounding us," she snapped back quickly.

A loud yell caught their attention as a spear shot up through another one of the boats, and yet another was flipped upside down.

"Lady Calypso is frowning upon us," one of the sailors muttered. "Sending demons upon us."

"Not demons," Roxas muttered. "These things are branded, and I don't think Calypso's symbol."

"No," another man agreed from another boat. "It's not."

Kari let out a horrified scream as a large wave rocked their boat. She reached her arms out for Goofy, and Roxas quickly handed him over. She hugged the puppy close to her while staying close to Sora.

Sora suddenly let out a cry of pain, and Kari shot around. One of the odd creatures had come close to the boat and had clenched onto Sora's arm with it's claws.

"No!" she screamed and grabbed a hold of it quickly. The small boat rocked violently, and no one else saw the creature suddenly shudder in pain as light originated from her hands before vanishing in twisting tentacles of darkness.

There was a pause in the creatures' attacks before they suddenly all vanished, as if afraid that they too would fall victim to the girl's light.

"What in god's name just happened?" one of the sailors from the closest boats yelled. The large, steel ship that they had come from had been yanked to the ocean depths, and now they were all stranded in the tiny lifeboats.

"The storm's vanishing," Roxas muttered as he stared at the sky. "Those creatures left, then the storm left." It was ridiculous to think that those two things were connected but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. They obviously weren't creatures of nature, not with such strong branding on them.

Kari ignored his ramblings as she set Goofy adown and proceeded to study Sora's arm. She winced at the angry red marks and said, "It got you good."

Sora chuckled a bit and said, "Probably would have taken me into the ocean if it weren't for you. Look at your hands." He took them into hers, showing that she had a rather nasty cut, having been scratched by one of it's claws. "I guess I just—" he was cut off quickly as she leaned up and kissed him deeply. His eyes stayed open for a split second from surprise, before he quickly closed them and returned the kiss.

They stayed like that until they heard Roxas clear his throat. Breathing heavily, they separated, only to see Roxas' smug grin and a to hear a few chuckles from the sailors around them. Kari's cheeks blushed brightly and she buried her face into the crook between his neck and shoulder again. She brought Goofy close to her too, enjoying the feeling of warmth, even in the cold, ocean air.

**VVVVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

So this is the third time I rewrote this chapter. Purposely making it different from the movie while keeping part of it the same. Yes, the 'creatures' in this were the goddamm heartless from atlantica. I have a serious beef with those things, I swear.

So who wants to write an essay for me about Pico della Mirandola and Christine de Pisan and if their views are Christian or more ancient? Lol I'm kidding. These are the type of essays that I rock at. Not the crappy ones my English Prof gives me.

Anyway, thank you for all the reviews. As always, you guys rock! Thank you to: Eragonmetal6, Narwe, Topaz Tsubasa, DAN88, Trainalf, pichucherrimteam, catharsis25, chasingfireflies and Oracle's Song.

Let me know what you all think about this chapter!

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


	10. Destiny Islands

**The Lost Princess**

_Chapter Nine – Destiny Islands_

The small fleet of lifeboats had (luckily) been found by another large ship that had received their S.O.S but had been too far away to get to them in time. Still, Kari couldn't help but feel horrible because she knew these creatures had been after her.

She had thought about it while they were floating on the boats. Sora and Roxas had been asleep on either side of her, and Goofy was on her lap, so she had been snug and warm while everyone else was cold. Still, she hadn't gone to sleep. Those monsters had appeared only after she had first woke up from the dream. She knew for a fact that, if Sora hadn't called her name and if she hadn't woke up, she would have jumped over the side of the ship. Then, after that didn't work, those white creatures had tried to drag her in. They had left quickly enough though, and Kari wondered if it was because of the same reason the monsters left. She had destroyed the thing with her bare hands, and she didn't know how.

She knew why she had done it. The creature was going to yank Sora into the violent water, and she knew if he got pulled in he would never be found again.

Still, these creatures were following her, and she knew it. She knew she was the reason that so many people had died. No one accused her of such, of course, but then again, only Sora knew that the creatures themselves had come after her.

Kari felt tears building up in her eyes as she rested her head on Sora's shoulder. She didn't want to be the reason anyone got her.

When the other boat had picked them up, they had been assigned to a much smaller cabin, but they wouldn't complain. Roxas had practically stumbled up to the top of the small bunk, and Sora had been ready to fall sleep on the floor, but Kari had pulled on his arm and dragged him into her tiny bed. She didn't want to be alone, especially if something tried to trick her again. With Sora there, she wouldn't be able to get up to stumble blinding about this ship.

For his part, he had simply blinked at her oddly before yawning and pulling her close. Goofy curled up around the feet, and in the warmth of his arms, Kari had quickly fallen asleep.

The next morning, Roxas couldn't help but watch his brother and Kari ("Kairi," he reminded himself. They needed to make it seem like that's what they always called her.) with scrutiny that lasted for the rest of their trip. Ever since he woke up one morning to them curled up together, he had been more than a little suspicious.

If he had voiced this to one of the men that had been in the lifeboat with them, they would have asked him why he was suspicious about anything. They had all seen his brother and Kari ("Kairi", he said again.) kiss, and they could all see the chemistry between them.

For his part though, Roxas knew his brother better than everyone, and he was very familiar with Kairi ("Ha! I got it right!") now as well. He had noticed that, at first, they seemed terribly awkward around each other, but as soon as Kairi had seen that the wounds on Sora's arm (completely disregarding the fact that she had the a similar one on her hand) were swollen and in pain, she had stopped caring about being awkward. Instead, she stayed close to him to make sure he didn't have any more reactions and went about cleaning his arm every day (Which Sora only allowed once he was sure her hands were alright.).

Roxas saw how they slowly seemed to get more comfortable with each other, but despite what had occurred between them on the lifeboat, neither one seemed to push the other to do it again. It was true, they didn't seem to have a problem with crossing over what would be considered personal space to see what the other was doing, and they were always touching each other. It wasn't in a bad, or inappropriate way, just touching of hands, or, for example, how Sora would play with her hair when they were sitting together. Just small things.

He could still feel the physical and emotional tension between the two now, but he knew why Sora wasn't pushing to kiss her again. They all knew that this could only turn out bad for the brunet in the end. If the former Queen believed that Kari was really Kairi then—

"Roxas!"

He jumped slightly and looked around at Sora and Kairi, who were staring at him oddly. He hadn't even notice that the boat had already docked, much to his surprise.

"Probably thinking about Naminé," Sora whispered to the girl, who giggled and followed him down the ramp that was set up. Roxas grumbled at his brother and followed behind them after hoisting Goofy into his arms.

"Where do we go from here?" Sora asked his brother as he looked around the busy port they had entered.

"We grab a taxi," Roxas said. "Because I'm not walking all that way. Naminé lives in the center of town, but the former Queen lives in a private residence outside the city, by the beach."

"How do you know all this?" Kairi asked him as Sora hailed a taxi.

"I came here a few years ago, you know, to scope out the lay and of the land and such. Even then we were planning on finding the Princess. I got to know Naminé and well—"

Kairi giggled at bit at him and turned her attention to Sora, who held open the back door of the taxi for her after putting their pages in the trunk. She grinned at the brunet widely before slipping inside the car.

"You get front with the creepy cabbie," Sora said to his brother quickly before grabbing Goofy from Roxas and rushing around to the other side of the taxi (After closing Kairi's door for her, of course.).

Roxas sighed and got in the front, wincing at bit when he saw the driver had an eye-patch and his hair was tied back in a ponytail.

"Name's Xigbar. Where are you kiddos heading?"

"Memori Manor," Roxas answered quickly. This was sure to be an interesting drive. Still, a car couldn't be as bad as the train and the boat, right?

**VVVVVVVVVVVV**

Sora whistled and Kari ("Oops, Kairi. Kairi, Kairi, Kairi," Sora said, causing her to giggle.) couldn't help but stare in awe. The house was beautiful, and was bigger than even the orphanage had been.

"Does she really live here alone?" Kairi asked Roxas.

He nodded his head and said, "Her father passed away when she was seventeen and left her everything. For that year she was in the former Queen's care, and then she came back here."

"And her mother?" she asked curiously.

"Died," Roxas said sadly. When he saw her expression he quickly shook his head and said. "No, no, not during the Revolution. Her mother and younger sister by a year, Xion, died in a car accident a few years after that while retrieving a few things from Radiant Garden. Poor Naminé never really got over any of that though. So she's a little, reclusive. Shy, unless she has people to interview. Then she appears confident like people expect her to be. She prefers to just stay up in her room and paint or draw though."

Kairi nodded and gulped nervously before turning away from the door and saying, "I can't do this."

Sora quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her back. He turned her around so that she was staring directly at him and said, "You can do this. You are Princess Kairi as far as we know. I'm confident that you're really her, er, or she's you. Either way."

She searched his eyes before slowly nodding. Roxas sighed with relief and rang the doorbell. As they waited, Kairi quickly leaned up and kissed Sora gently on his cheek again before saying, "Thank you, again."

He blushed lightly but didn't get the chance to reply at the door flew open. A woman dressed as a maid eyed them all for a moment before saying, "Yes?"

"Hi. We're looking for—" Roxas was cut off as the maid waved her hand.

"Ms. Naminé, I know," she said with a nod of her head. "I remember you. You're that boy she always talks about. Roxas."

He blushed a bit and nodded his head slightly as the maid led them in. They all took off their shoes by the door and followed the blonde maid up the stairs.

"This house is beautiful," Kairi whispered to Sora.

"I know," he agreed. "The Palace was more impressive, but that's a bit of a given."

She giggled a bit but stopped as the maid halted at a door. She knocked and said, "Ms. Naminé, you have visitors."

"Let them in Rikku," a quiet, rather serene sounding voice called out. The maid, Rikku, smiled at them as she opened the door and motioned for them to go inside.

The room itself was completely white, even the furniture, but in contrast to that, there were colorful paintings strewn everywhere. Kairi looked at them in awe, and Roxas took a few steps towards the middle of the room. There, sitting on a high stool in front of an easel was a young woman painting away.

She pulled her bright blue eyes away from the work in front of her, and they landed on Roxas. Her mouth opened in a surprised O, her eyes widened, and she dropped her pallet to the ground, the paint splattering on the floor.

Roxas, and who Sora and Kairi assumed was Naminé, stared at each other for a tense moment. Then, as Roxas opened his mouth to say something, she suddenly moved forward and wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.

"You said you'd come back, but I was starting to doubt you."

"I promised you Nami," Roxas replied as he hugged her tightly.

She glanced up from his shoulder before quickly letting him go, a bashful look replacing the joy on her face as she suddenly seemed to shrink in size, or blend in with the white of the walls behind her. "Oh, hello. I'm Naminé Memori."

"This is my twin brother, Sora," Roxas said with a quick jester, and Sora smiled at her. She shook his hand politely before turning and looking at the only female of their small group.

Her skin, if possible, went visibly paler and her eyes widened slightly. She eyed Kairi down for a moment, giving Goofy (who sat obediently at their feet) and odd look before looking back into her indigo eyes. "And who might you be?"

"We came with a surprise this time," Roxas said with a grin. "May I present to you, her Imperial Highness, Princess Kairi Hart."

Kairi blushed lightly before saying, "Hello Naminé."

Naminé stared at her for a moment before suddenly moving to another part of the room. She picked up one of her finished paintings and looked at it, before glancing at Kairi and back again. She sighed and turned it around so that they could see it, "You certainly do look like my cousin. There have been others who managed to look almost exactly like what we thought she'd look like now, but there was always something off about them. You—wow—you look so much like her."

Kairi felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked at the painting of her as a child, and only remembered to breathe again when Sora placed his hand on her shoulder.

Naminé tilted her head slightly as she stared at them before a knowing grin appeared on her face. She quickly moved passed the group, motioning for them to follow her. "We should have a seat. I have to ask you a few questions." She nodded to Kairi when she was saying this.

They followed her out of the room, through the hall and back down the stairs. As they walked, Roxas nudged Sora and whispered, "She believes us."

"Really?" Sora asked doubtfully.

"I can tell," Roxas said with a nod.

They followed the young blonde woman out to the patio in the backyard. She called for Rikku to bring them out some lemonade and motioned for them to sit down at an elegant glass table. She didn't say a thing as Rikku set down four glasses of lemonade on the table, but she didn't touch anything yet, she just kept looking at Kairi with an expectant look.

Kairi didn't notice this though, instead, her eyes were focused on the glasses in front of her with a rather disdained look.

"You should take a drink," Naminé said after a moment. "You look thirsty."

Kairi grimaced and said, "I don't like lemonade. It's too sour."

Sora and Roxas both groaned and smacked their heads on the table at her blunt and rather disgusted voice.

Naminé laughed and said, "No, Kairi never did like lemonade. She always preferred—"

"Orange juice," Kairi said thoughtfully. "Or apple juice."

"I always used to drink hot chocolate with her," Naminé said thoughtfully. "Because of how cold Radiant Garden was in winter. She was a little weird though, because—"

"I always mixed honey with pretty much every hot drink I had. Hot chocolate, warm milk, even just hot water," Kairi said with a laugh. She looked back at Sora and said, "I was a weird child."

Sora snorted and said, "You just enjoyed excessive amount of sweet things."

"So," Naminé said, leaning forward on her elbows. "You were born—"

"In our vacation home in Atlantica. Ariel was born there as well. It's also where she found Sebastian and Flounder."

The blonde girl seemed thoughtful for a second before saying, "You know what, I'm already getting the strong impression that you are Kairi, but I have to ask a few questions first, you understand."

"Yeah," she replied with a nod. "It's okay."

Naminé asked her a few questions about her life, some of which Roxas and Sora had prepared her for, some of which they hadn't. Kairi admitted to living in an orphanage for ten years with only tiny snippets of her past, but Naminé didn't question that.

As they talked, Rikku brought out a light lunch for them. Roxas and Sora stayed silent the entire time as the girls chatted, and the talk was becoming less and less formal.

"Well," Naminé said after they finished eating their lunch. "I guess I'm out of questions."

"So, is she a Hart?" Roxas question Naminé while playing with her hair.

She smiled awkwardly at this, with a faint blush on her face before saying, "Well, I just have one more questions. You may find it a little…redundant, but you know—I'm curious."

Kairi nodded curiously and Naminé asked, "How is it, that you escaped the siege on the palace?"

Sora sighed and leaned back. He knew very well how she had escaped, but he had never even thought to tell her that. Roxas shot him a panicked look before turning to Kairi to see what she would say.

She sat in thought before fingering her necklace and saying, slowly, "There was a boy. About my age. I can't remember—well—he opened a wall…"

Sora turned towards Kairi, a look of awe passing over his features as his eyes widened with shock, and this was not lost on Roxas.

Kairi suddenly laughed and said, "What am I talking about. Opening walls. I'm sorry."

Naminé laughed and said, "It's alright. I didn't really expect you to know. You did say you're memories were still a bit fuzzy."

"Does that mean we get to see the Queen?" Roxas asked Naminé after tearing his suspicious glance from his brother. Sora had looked away from Kairi quickly and Roxas couldn't help but notice it.

"I really wish I could," Naminé said sadly. "Because I really think you are Kairi. She doesn't want to see anyone anymore though."

This threw both of the twins for a loop before Roxas looped his arm across her shoulder and said, "Come now, there must be some way we can see her, if even for a moment."

Naminé shot him a searching look before sighing and leaning back a bit in her chair to think. Roxas and Kairi watched her curiously, but Sora focused on his hands.

"Do you like the Radiant Garden Ballet?" Naminé asked suddenly, sitting up straighter.

Kairi scrunched her face up and was about to shake her head but Roxas swiftly kicked her under the table. She jumped, glared at him and said, "Yes. I'd love to go actually."

Naminé laughed and said, "Great. We have never missed a show."

Roxas and Kairi both grinned broadly at her words. It looked like things were turning out their way for once.

Only Sora knew exactly how much that was true.

**VVVVVVVVVVVV**

Sighing, Sora slumped down onto the lush green grass of Naminé's back yard away from the table. He leaned his head back, purposely smashing the back of it on the tree behind him. Naminé and Kairi were so interested in their conversation that they didn't even notice.

Roxas did, however, walked over to his brother while saying, "We did it bro. We really did! Why are you beating yourself up about it?"

"We did it more then you know," Sora replied while looking up at the sky he was named after.

Roxas shot him a confused look before saying, "So there is something I don't know. That look on you're face back there, I just knew it."

"That little boy," Sora said as he pulled the charm out of his pocket. "The one who opened the wall. That was me. She's the real deal, Rox."

Roxas' mouth fell open and he said, "You're sure? A hundred percent? Wait, that's how you knew, isn't it? That's why you were always so persistent that she survived. You helped her escape the palace."

Sora nodded and said, "Then the rumors started that she may have died anyway. I just—I had to know. I got her out of the palace, and I just felt like it was my duty, because I was the only person who knew that truly did get out. I—it's really her."

Roxas sighed and sat beside his brother. "You have to tell her."

"Everything," Sora agreed. "I know I have to. I have to tell her everything. About the scheme, the lies…and the truth. She deserves to know." He sighed and looked at his hands sadly. "She's going to hate me."

"She won't hate you," Roxas insisted. "So why don't you just—"

"Kitchen boys," Sora interrupted. "Don't marry Princesses."

"I'm involved with Naminé, or so you can say," Roxas pointed out.

"She's not a Princess," Sora replied. Seeing that his brother was about to protest he said, "It'll be better for her this way. She'll get the family she's been searching for, without any false ideas, and, well, I'll never see her again. It's for the best."

Roxas eyed his brother and said, "I think you're making a mistake. Can't you see that she loves you?"

The brunet stared at the ground for a moment before saying, "That's why I have to let her go Roxas. A Princess deserves something more than a person who can't even afford to feed himself."

Before the blond could say anything else both girls stood up. Naminé walked inside of the house and Kairi moved towards them, looking rather glum. "Naminé's going to take us shopping for the ballet."

"Look a little more depressed about shopping Kairi," Sora said with a laugh as he flung his arm over her shoulder.

She looked up at him before saying, "Well, I guess if you're coming, it won't be so bad." She smiled a bit. "Who else will carry all my bags?"

Sora smirked and said, "You really do want to go shopping, don't you?"

"Only if you're there," she said with a flutter of her eyelashes.

Roxas watched them both interact. He couldn't help but smile at the way Kairi was flirting heavily with his brother, but he also couldn't help but frown as well. He knew his twin well enough to see that his heart was slowly breaking with every moment he spent with her. And he knew Sora was making a huge mistake.

**VVVVVVVVVVVV**

"Master?" Riku asked slowly, as Xemnas paced back and forth in front of him. It was the first sign of any frustration that the man had shown in all Riku's time (imprisonment) there.

"All my attempts have failed," Xemnas said. "So now comes my last option. I'll have to kill her myself. You'll be helping me, of course."

Riku's eyes widened a bit before he asked, "Can you actually, leave here?"

"I've been waiting for all the dark Keyblade's strength to be renewed, and it has. Now it's time to make my move."

He held out the blade, and a large shadowy portal opened. He motioned for Riku to follow before saying, "Come, we have much work to do."

Riku hesitated before following him. As much as he didn't agree with Xemnas' antics, he knew he should go along. It would get him out of that place, and maybe, just maybe, he would be able to find out the man's plan and warn Kairi beforehand.

Because Riku knew that she didn't deserve to die.

**VVVVVVVVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

Fun fact: that first part about the lifeboats being found by another ship that was too far away from them to get there in time is actually what happened to the Titanic.

So again, similar plot line, but I tried to make this one a bit different. I did my first of four exams today. Took me 20 minutes to write and we had 3 hours. I like those odds. Lol

Also I'm completely distracted by watching vast amounts of Supernatural. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! If I didn't get a reply back to you, it's not that I don't appreciate your review, I've just been super busy!

So thank you to catharsis25, DAN88, Shire Folk, Solarian Princess, SlashFox14, Narwe, Topaz Tsubasa, chasingfireflies and Trainalf. You guys are great!

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


	11. The Truth

**The Lost Princess**

_**Chapter Ten – The Truth**_

Kairi and Naminé seemed to be getting along great, Sora noted. The few times Naminé had visited the palace when they were younger, Sora had noticed that the two were great friends, and it was showing now. He vaguely remembered Xion as well, but she had always been a bit of a loner and preferred playing with little Axel, even though she was older.

Sora and Roxas, of course, knew that their little orphan Kari was actually Princess Kairi now. Sora couldn't believe how things had worked out in the end. There technically was no con anymore. There were the remnants of a scheme going through his and Roxas' minds, but he wouldn't be conning the former Queen out of any of her money because this really was Kairi.

And that revelation broke Sora a bit.

Roxas, for his part, proved to be able to act as if nothing had changed. That may have been because Naminé was hanging off his arm, but Sora had become more withdrawn.

Kairi hadn't really noticed though, she was too busy staring at everything that they passed.

There were no big malls, but there were many small, nice boutiques lining the road. Naminé (with Roxas in tow) led the way, and Kairi hooked her arm through Sora's to make sure he kept up with them. She had noticed him trailing behind, but had just assumed he didn't want to go shopping, and if he didn't want to go shopping, she didn't want to go shopping. As it was, he didn't have much money, and he would never admit it, but he spent quite a bit of it on the clothes he had given her. His and Roxas' were more of just cheap odds and ends that they could find and piece together.

"Isn't this beautiful?" Kairi said suddenly, causing him to break out of his thoughts. He glanced at her as she held out a dark violet, strapless dress.

Sora squinted a bit before shrugging and saying, "It's okay, I suppose."

She frowned and said, "Just okay?"

"You look better in lighter colors," he answered. "Like the pink you're wearing, or yellows or pale blues or purples."

She blushed a bit before saying, "I'm just used to dark colors. We wore them because they looked less dirty." She put the dress bag on the hanger before turning to him again. "So when people would come to adopt children, we wouldn't look quite as filthy."

"Hey," Sora said when he saw the sad look pass across her face. He put his hands on either side of her face and gently tilted it up so that she was looking him in the eyes. "You're almost there. You're almost home, Kairi."

"But what if I'm not Kairi?" she asked fearfully. "What if all of this was for nothing. At first, at first I didn't really care but now…I don't know. I guess I'm just scared that I'll be little orphan Kari forever."

Sora took a deep breath before saying, "There's something really important I have to tell you, something that will probably make you hate me."

She tilted her head a bit and asked, "What's wrong?"

Sora looked up and saw Roxas eyeing the two of them. He nodded to his twin, who led a curious looking Naminé away, and said, "You might want to sit down."

They ended up in a small, secluded park, sitting one of the old benches. Kairi's leg brushed against his, and as he looked up from the ground to talk to her, he found he couldn't. Once again, she leaned up and kissed him. Sora returns the embrace for a moment before quickly pulling away from her, causing a surprised (and slightly hurt) expression to appear on her face.

"You're going to be really angry with me in about a minute," Sora admitted. "You see Kairi, you really are her."

"What?" she asked slowly.

"You, honest to god, are Princess Kairi," he explained.

"How do you know that?" Kairi asked hesitantly.

"There's the basic facts: you look exactly like an older version of the Princess we knew, you know all too much about the family, we just needed to kick start you a bit, you have some of the same personality traits, your name that you gave yourself was extremely similar, you're looking for family here, her only family is here, that necklace you have is something only a princess would own and—" He looked at his hands. "And I was the boy."

"The…boy?" she repeated slowly.

"Roxas and I worked in the palace." She already knew this because Roxas had told her, but she didn't mention it. "We were kitchen boys. He always stuck to the kitchen, but I liked to travel around. I was too curious for my own good, my mother always told me that. I met you several times. Not enough where we could call each other friends, but enough for you to put a name to a face, something that was pretty much unheard of, especially for the younger servants."

Kairi took his hand and squeezed it tightly, encouraging him to continue. "There was a man who came to a party that your family was holding and he—"

"Placed a curse on my family," Kairi interrupted, muttering more to herself than anything.

"That's right," Sora agreed. "I snuck in to see the festivities and I heard that. All in all, I think that was the cause of the siege on the palace. I was going through the servant's corridors, trying to help people escape, but there were so many soldiers. Then, I heard your voice. You and your grandmother. I pushed open the secret passage, and got you and your grandmother to go through the passage in the wall. Then when the soldier came, I refused to tell them where you had gone."

He motioned to the scar that ran along his left temple. "He hit me over the head with the blunt end of his sword. When I woke up, it was over."

Tears welded up in Kairi's eyes as she stuttered, "I-it was y-y-you. You saved me. Us."

Sora nodded his head and said, "I don't deserve your gratitude though."

"Why not? I'd be dead if it weren't for you!" she cried out.

Sora hugged her tightly, letting her rest her head on his shoulder before saying, "Roxas never wanted to do this, but he's my brother, and he was just as desperate."

"Desperate for what?"

"To be something better than we are," Sora said while looking up at the sky as he hugged her. "But to do anything these days, you need to have money, and we found a way to get a lot of it in one go."

"How?" she asked curiously.

"The reward that the former Queen was giving out for your return."

Her brows furrowed and she said, with a slightly hurt tone a voice, "You mean, after you met me, that's why you kept me going?"

"No," he said while pulling away from her. "No it started before that. It started when Roxas and I held auditions to find a girl that could act like you. Then we found you and—at first when we didn't really know if you were Kairi or not…"

She stood up quickly, her eyes wide with tears and anger visible behind them. Her cheeks turned red and said, "You mean you just planned on using me to get her money?"

"No!" Sora stopped himself. "Actually…no more lies. Yes, that was the plan."

She let out an angry growl before turning away from him and attempting to stalk away. Sora quickly jumped up and grabbed her arm. "Just listen to me!"

"No! You've been using me all along!"

"At first, yes, that's what it was but—"

"So what if she doesn't recognize me? Huh? Then what?" Kairi snarled as she spun around to face him. "Find another way to get the money? Maybe sell me off as a whore or something? Is that why you let me kiss you? To see if I was good enough at it?"

"No!" Sora yelled at her. "I know what I did was wrong, but I'd never ever do that to someone! As I got to know you, it just kept eating me up inside. I couldn't use you! That's why I'm telling you!"

She took several deep breaths and managed to calm herself down, not wanting to have a childish hissy-fit. She was a Princess, she could remain cool and calm. "Why'd you kiss me back then?"

Sora let go of her and looked at the ground before saying. "I care about you, a lot. I kissed you back because I wanted to."

He had lied to her. He had used her. She knew that she should be furious with him, but her heart wouldn't let her. He was telling the truth now, he was admitting to his mistakes, and she knew that it was a difficult thing for him to do.

Then again, she also had something to confess to as well.

"I didn't really believe that I was…well me," she admitted as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I decided to play along with you just so I could get here. Even up to when you started training me, per se, I still didn't believe you. I was actually planning on ditching you two the second we got here. Then there was the incident on the ship and everything just got…complicated."

Sora stared at her for a moment before saying, "So, we were both using each other? I guess it's good though that you didn't run. We know where your family is, and we can take you there."

Kairi looked up at him and asked, "Are you going to make up for what you did?"

"As much as I can," he replied. He knew he only had so much time though. "Are you going to make up for using me and Roxas to get here?"

She pulled him down a bit so that their faces were level and she said, "As much as I can."

Before Sora knew it, they were kissing each other again. Instead of pushing her away like he knew he should, he pulled her closer. He knew that he had gotten off a lot better than he expected, and he was grateful for that. He wasn't all too sure that Kairi understood what was going to happen from there though.

He knew that he had to stop this. He couldn't kiss her anymore, he couldn't want to. He knew he was just setting both of them up for heartbreak. He couldn't pull away though, and a part of him whispered that it was because he knew that this was like a goodbye.

"_Kairi, you have to understand that once you go back to your grandmother, we'll never be able to see each other again."_

**VVVVVVVVVV**

"You told her?"

Sora glanced over at Roxas, who was staring at him with a rather surprised look. Sora looked away before nodding his head.

"How are you still alive?" he twin asked him.

"Turns out she was using us too. We wanted to use her to get the Queen's money. She wanted to use us to get here than ditch us," Sora explained.

Roxas sighed before leaning against the wall and said, "So we're all just horrible people in general."

"That sums it up pretty well."

Both of them were dressed in suits that Naminé and Kairi had chosen for them. Their suits were both black, but Kairi had chosen a deep blue tie for Sora, and Naminé chose a dark red for Roxas. The girls had been highly amused when both Sora and Roxas had struggled desperately with trying to tie their ties, and Naminé had to help them both.

"You should tell her," Roxas said suddenly.

"I did," Sora snapped at him. "Were you not just listening?"

"No, not that. You should tell her how you feel about her."

Sora sighed before saying, "She knows I care about her, Roxas."

"Does she know how much you love her? Don't try to lie and say that you don't. I'm your twin brother, I know when you're lying."

"I—"

"What are you lying about now, Sora?"

Sora jumped and whipped around quickly. He barely registered that it was actually Kairi behind him as he caught his breath, but as he calmed down, he couldn't help but admire what he could see so far. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, held with a glittering diamond clip, and a few locks surrounding her face. She wore a deep blue shawl around her shoulders, so he could only see the bottom of her long, sparkling navy dress.

"I was lying when I said that you looked best in bright colors," Sora answered honestly. "You look beautiful in anything."

She flushed and a grin appeared on her face as she took a few steps closer to him. Roxas sighed but quickly moved over to Naminé's side, complimenting her on her golden dress.

Once inside, Kairi quickly handed Sora her shawl and he put it with his coat at the check in as she continued walking. He could hear a few whispers, especially from the other men that were around, about the girl in the navy dress.

Sora turned around and looked up the stairs at her, and couldn't help but stare at Kairi in awe. He certainly knew why people were staring at her. The dress she wore had thin straps and the top was embroidered glittered in the lightning of the room. With it, she had on a simple silver necklace with a diamond pendant and earrings. She looked exactly like the princess she truly was.

Kairi shot him a questioning look, and he snapped out of his thoughts. Sora quickly rushed up the stairs after her and she smiled at him as she held onto his arm.

He could hear a few grumbles from a few of the younger men around them, and he knew that he didn't belong in their ranks. He knew and they knew it too. Roxas seemed to be able to blend in with this regal and elegant form of life, but Sora was more wild and free than his twin. He always had been.

When they reached their seats, Kairi started to anxiously look around for the former Queen. Roxas sat behind her and Sora, looking rather comfortable as he spread across two seats. Naminé would be sitting with the Queen instead of with them, that way they could try to pull off their plan.

Sora had a pair of (rather fancy) binoculars that were put there for easier viewing of the ballet, but he was using them to scope out the private boxes. It wasn't hard to spot the Queen.

"There she is," Sora whispered to Kairi as he passed her the binoculars and pointed her in the right direction.

Kairi recognized the woman from the portrait that had been in the Hart Palace. The only difference was, that instead of her blonde hair that the portrait had shown on her head, her hair was a fine silver. Kairi imagined that she appeared older than in the image as well, but that didn't really matter to her at the moment.

There was also a strong tug in her heart, a feeling of recognition that went beyond just comparing the woman to a painting. She bit her lip before saying, "I hope she remembers me."

Sora smiled warmly at her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. "I'm sure she will. You are Kairi, after all." She put the binoculars back where he had taken them from, and nervously started fiddling with the program that was in her hands as she leaned her head on Sora's shoulder. "Thanks for forgiving me, Princess."

She hummed a tiny bit, not at all interested in watching the performance. "You still having a lot of making up to do, but I don't think I could ever hate you."

The two sat in silence, neither really focusing on the ballet, but rather the person they were snuggled up to.

**VVVVVVVVVV**

Sora rolled his eyes as he heard Roxas snore behind them. As much as he didn't want to be here either, he wasn't going to fall asleep. He couldn't stop the nervousness from building up in him as the ballet slowly progressed. It was either sink or swim after this was over. Either the Queen believed them or not. No matter what, it was a lose-lose situation to him (Because she would be extremely upset if she was rejected by her own grandmother, and he didn't want to see her sad.), but if Kairi was happy, then that's all that mattered.

He glanced down at her and had to do a double take when he saw her tearing the program in her hands to tiny shreds from nerves. He took his arm off of her shoulder and intertwined his hand with hers. She looked up at him and suddenly kissed him again.

Sora really knew he shouldn't have responded this time, but he couldn't stop himself from returning the embrace just as deeply. He could feel desperation coming from her, and he had a feeling that she was acknowledging what he had during their kiss in the park: that this could be one of the last nights they saw each other.

Eventually, they broke apart and turned back to watch the end of the ballet. Sora could hear Kairi's nervous breathing beside him as the music came to an end and the curtain closed. He stood up quickly and said, "Time to go." He chuckled at his brother's snoozing form, knowing that he would be extremely confused when he woke up alone.

They managed to navigate their way through the halls using the instructions Naminé had given them before departing. As they approached the door that separated the Queen from them, Kairi jerked her hand from his and turned, trying to walk away.

"I can't do this."

Sora quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him before saying, "Yes, you can. You are Kairi. Wait here, I'll go announce you."

Kairi nodded as he started to walk away, and blurted out, "Sora?"

He turned around and said, "Yes?"

"I—I just wanted to say—" Kairi stuttered, her cheeks turning a deep shade of red.

"Yes?" he pushed a little more, hoping that she was going to say what he thought she was.

"Thank you," she blurted out. "Yes, thank you, for every thing. Especially telling me the truth."

"Oh," Sora muttered, a little disappointedly. "Well, you're welcome." She turned away from him this time and he said, "Kairi?"

She turned eagerly and said, "Yes?"

"I—erm—I—"

"Yes?" she said in the same way he had before.

"Good luck, and again, thank you for forgiving me," he whispered to her and quickly turned towards the door, not noticing her disappointed look.

He knocked loudly as a moment later he saw the door peak open a bit and heard Naminé say, "Who is it?"

"Tell the Queen that I have found her granddaughter, Imperial Princess Kairi," Sora announced loudly, just as Naminé told him to.

"The Queen will see no one," Naminé said stubbornly while winking at him as she motioned for him to come in. The door didn't close all the way behind them, but neither paid attention to that.

Kairi leaned close, eager to hear what was going on inside.

"Tell that boy that I have seen enough Princess Kairi's to last a lifetime, Naminé," came the regal and stern voice of the Queen.

"You had better go," Naminé said to him with yet another wink. "Come, I'll show you to the door."

Sora watched her walk towards the door before slipping through the curtains and moving quickly beside the Queen.

"Your majesty, I mean you no harm," he assured her. "My name's Sora, and I used to work in the palace—"

"Well that's one I haven't heard before," the queen said in a rather sarcastic tone of voice before standing up. "I've seen it time and time again. Men who train girls in the way of royalty."

"But you're majesty, we've come all the way from Radiant Garden—"

"And others have come from the Pride Lands," she snapped as she moved passed the curtain and towards the door. Naminé was watching with interest and her eyes widened a bit as the Queen pulled what appeared to be a simple, golden decoration. "Didn't you hear me, I've had enough?"

"This is different. She really is the Princess," Sora insisted.

The former Queen swung around quickly, but she did it with an air of grace. She pointed an accusing finger at Sora and said, "Sora, I've heard of you. You and your brother were holding auditions for a girl to act as Kairi. Hasn't this old woman suffered enough without the manipulation from you and those like you?"

Naminé's mouth dropped in shock at this realization as she muttered Roxas' name.

Two large men walked into the room, summoned by the trinket that the former Queen had pulled. With a wave of the Queen's gloved hand, the men grabbed Sora and started pulling him out of the room.

"No! You don't understand!" Sora called out. "She really is the Princess!" His cries fell on deaf ears as he was tossed out of the room as the door slammed behind him.

Sora groaned and looked up, finding himself staring into the horrified face of Kairi. He quickly stood up and she took a step away from him.

"She doesn't—she doesn't want to see me?" Kairi muttered, her eyes widening. "She, I…"

"It's okay," Sora said quickly as he hugged her tightly. "It'll be alright, we'll find a way to get her to see you. I promise, I—"

"No!" Kairi let out a sob as she backed away from him. "No more Sora! I can forgive you for what you did, but no more schemes! It was because of your stupid auditions, your greed for my grandmother's money, that she refuses to believe you!"

Sora tried to take her hand and apologize but she backed away from him again. "No, just leave me alone, Sora. Please, I just need to—I—"

He could tell that she wasn't exactly angry at him, but rather frustrated with the entire situation. She knew for a fact that her grandmother was sitting beyond the doors he had just been thrown out of, but because she knew that Sora had been trying to con her, she refused to see any Princess he brought in. Even though he actually had the real Princess Kairi with him.

"I—I just need to be alone," Kairi said with a sob and quickly wheeled around, running down the hall.

Sora was about to chase after her, but decided against it. She wanted, and needed, her space, so he was going to give it to her. He owed her that much at least. That was when the door behind him flew open and Naminé stormed out.

"Roxas came here to see what I would ask, didn't he?" she asked in a low voice. "That's why he was here without you the first time, wasn't it?"

Sora bit his lip before saying, "No. Roxas wanted to get away from my scheming so he came here. He felt guilty, so he came back to see me. It took a while, but I convinced him to tell me what you'd ask. It took forever for him to say anything, and a lot of alcohol."

Naminé's face turned red from anger (Sora was impressed that her fair skin could get such color in it.) and slapped him before storming back through the door, slamming it behind her. He slumped against the wall and stayed there until he felt someone sit next to him.

"You didn't have to lie," Roxas said to him. "You didn't have to tell her that it was all your idea."

"It was," Sora muttered. "I just—I just wanted to find her. I did. I just went the wrong way about it. I couldn't mess up the future you possible have Rox." Sora had been staring at his hands as he spoke, but after a moment's pause, he looked up. There was a look of pure determination spread across his face as he said, "And I can't ruin Kairi's future either."

"Sora?" Roxas called out as his brother got up and sprinted down the hall. He wasn't going to let Kairi's chance of being reunited with her family be ruined. He was going to make sure that the former Queen listening to him, even if he had to resort to one of his schemes.

**VVVVVVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

Thank you for all of the reviews! You guys are great. Pretty sure I advertised The Princess and the Frog in every single one of them, but what can I say? I went into it expecting Disney Sequel Style at best (You know, the biggest problem is a fight with a friend or something.), so I was super impressed with it.

Thank you to: DAN88, catharsis25, Shire Folk, Trainalf, Topaz Tsubasa, Kingdom hearts birth by sleep and chasingfireflies.

Oh, by the way, this story has only 16 chapters to it. Any longer would have been dragging it on.

And just in case anyone was wondering (which I doubt) all the dashes and ellipses I use in dialogue are actually allowed grammar wise because it is speech. The book Heart of Darkness (very boring) is pretty much made up of them and my old English teacher worshiped the book.

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


	12. Falling Into Place

**The Lost Princess**

_Chapter Eleven – Falling Into Place_

Even at night, the air was warm on Destiny Islands. It was something Sora could get used to, but he had already decided his own fate. He knew that he didn't belong on these islands, in this world. But Kairi did, and he was going to make sure that she found the family she longed for.

He hid in the shadows, pretending to search for something in his pockets. He glanced up at the mirror in front of him every once and a while, waiting for a specific person to leave the theatre.

Finally he saw a woman with a flowing dress that shone regally, even in the darkness of the night. He watched as a man opened the door to a car and let the woman in, bowing politely before saying, "Your majesty."

Sora quickly made his move as the man closed the door to the back seat. He rushed to the front seat, and threw the door open. The chauffeur had left the keys in the engine, and Sora quickly shut the door before taking off the break and speeding away, hearing the man yell behind him.

He focused on getting away from the man quickly, and nearly missed the road that he was supposed to turn out. Sora turned the wheel quickly, causing the car to jerk around and another car to honk at him.

"Slow down, Wakka," the former Queen said from the back seat as she swayed with the motion of the vehicle.

"I'm not Wakka, and I'm not slowing down," he said as he shot her a quick glance.

"You," she said accusingly while pointing at him. "Stop the car this instance. Stop this car." With every syllable, she banged her cane that was decorated with diamonds and gold.

Sora turned around and said, "I'm not stopping this car until you talk to her."

When he finally reached Naminé's house, he pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car. He opened the front door and slammed it shut before moving around to the other side of the car, and the back seat.

He opened the door and knelt down beside the former Queen, who was holding her cane with both hands stiffly while staring at the front of the car with an equally stiff expression.

"Talk to her your highness," he insisted. "Please. Or just take a look at her in the very least."

"You insolent young man, you don't know what it's like, do you? To lose your entire family?" she growled at him as she turned her head slightly to send him a glare that mirrored the ones Kairi gave him from time to time.

"My mother died in the palace that night!" Sora shot back. "The only person I have left is my twin brother."

The woman twitched a bit, but she didn't say anything else in response.

Sora reached into his pocket and took out the charm that looked like it made of seashells. He held it out to her silently, and she turned a bit, the stiff look vanishing from her features as she asked, "Where did you get this?"

"I know you've been hurt, and you're alone, but she's just as alone and hurt as you are," Sora said softly.

She stared at it before looking over at him again and saying, "You know that the punishment for kidnapping even a fallen Queen is harsh."

Sora chuckled a bit and said, "It'd be worth it."

She observed him before looking down at the charm in her hand, clasping it tightly as she let out a sigh. She motioned for him to take her hand, and he carefully helped her out of the luxurious car.

**VVVVVVVV**

Tears streamed down Kairi's cheeks as she grabbed her clothes and threw them into her suitcase. She stopped mid-step and fell to her knees, sobbing into her once gloved hands. She had discarded the gloves quickly when going into her room.

At first, she had been irrationally angry at Sora over what had just occurred, and ended up throwing things around in her room before moving on to the tears. She could believe what just happened was his fault in a way, because in all actuality, it was. Now though, she wasn't quite sure what she was feeling. There was only one thing that she comprehended at the moment, and that was the fact that she was seriously considering the fact that she could possibly be in love with him. It was a rather random thought for what had just occurred, that much she accepted, but it was the one thought running through her head that screamed the loudest. When she had first kissed Sora, she had felt, for almost a moment, that she could live without finding the rest of her family if she could have him.

She wondered what he had been planning on doing with her if he had never told her about the plan. Actually, she wondered what was going to happen to her now that the plan had blown up in all their faces. She was a Princess without a family, and he was a young man without a penny to his name. Not that his lack of money mattered to her, because all she could clearly remember from her childhood was a grim orphanage. Everything else that she could remember was blurry, and that was why she simply chalked it up to being dreams that were created by Sora and Roxas' stories.

When she had heard Roxas and Naminé return, Naminé raging about Sora, Kairi had been tempted to go out to tell her that Roxas had been in on the plan too, but she didn't. She couldn't break Naminé's happiness. The girl had been nothing but friendly to her since she came to Destiny Islands.

A part of her actually ended up falling for Sora a little more when she learned that he had taken all the blame so that his brother could have his own happy ending. Where did that leave them though?

A sudden knock at the door made her jump to her feet. She had seen Roxas and Naminé go for a walk in the gardens with Goofy just moments ago, so she knew it wasn't either of them. She returned to her packing as she tried her eyes before saying, "Please Sora, I just want to be alone." She wanted to get away from this place, where her hopes had been crushed. Maybe he would come with her, if he really cared about her as much as he implied.

The door opened anyway, and she heard someone enter the room. She shot around quickly to tell the person to leave her alone, and her eyes widened in shock.

The woman before her had fine, silver hair and wary blue eyes. She was eyeing her with a look of hidden pain, but even if Kairi had never met her before, she would have easily been able to recognize her from her elegant clothing and the glittering crown that rested atop her head. The former Queen of Radiant Garden.

"I'm sorry," Kairi said. "I thought you were—"

"I know who you thought I was," The woman said quickly. "Why should I believe you're my granddaughter?" She did not want to delay the main question she had. She was wary of the games that girls played with her before, trying to get a piece of the fortune that was still associated with the Hart family.

"My name is Kairi," she answered while clasping her hands behind her back. "Although, I did go by the name Kari for quite a while. Every since I was eight."

"Eight? Why is that?"

"When I was eight, something happened," Kairi said, moving her hands from behind her back and walking towards the patio. "Trauma to my head. I had fallen, somehow, I don't remember exactly."

"All the easier for this Sora character to make you believe you are Kairi," the old woman said stiffly. Before Kairi could protest, she held up her hand and said, "You are a very good actress, the best I've seen. You have given me no reason to believe you though."

Kairi nodded her head and turned to look out the patio door before saying, "You can go then, I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"You're not going to try to convince me?"

She started fiddling with her necklace as she said, "What does it matter? I have a feeling nothing I say can make you believe me. I do you want you to know that I never intended on tricking you, and in the long run, Sora regrets trying to trick you too."

There was a long pause as the former Queen eyed her. "Well, I wish you the best of luck," the woman said finally before heading towards the door of the room. Kairi leaned against the glass door and breathed in with disappointment, and an odd scent filled her nose.

"Is that, paopu fruit?" Kairi asked aloud.

"A perfume," the former Queen replied stiffly. "Not my favorite, but even royalty can be in a hurry."

"No," Kairi agreed. "It never was your favorite. Mom loved it though. She always loved when you came home and brought that particular perfume with you. She loved it even more when you brought the actual fruit. I remember she would tell us the legend about how, when two people shared a paopu fruit, their destinies were intertwined forever." She laughed a bit as another memory rushed through her mind. "Larxene made me so mad when she said that no one would ever share one with me, so I took mine to my room. It was there for days even after you had gone, and I was starting to think Larxene was right. I wanted to prove her wrong, so I decided to ask the next person I saw to share it with me. The next person I saw was a servant boy who was being yelled at. I remember that old mean cook, Vexen, or whatever his name was, said that he wasn't allowed any food that night, so I gave him half of the fruit." Her smile widened at the memory. "It looks like it worked too. It was Sora that I gave it to."

She traced the windowpanes in front of her as she added, "Mom loved the smell so much, and she knew I did too, that she came into my room and soaked some into my carpet, and it forever smelled like paopu fruit."

Kairi giggled a bit and looked up at the ceiling, "I was a little reckless for giving that to just anybody, wasn't I? I'm glad I did though. Maybe if I hadn't, I wouldn't have met Sora again."

During Kairi's rambling, the old woman sat down on the padded bench in front of the mirror. She motioned for Kairi to sit beside her. Once she was sitting on the bench, the old woman asked, "What is that you have?"

"This?" Kairi asked while fiddling with her necklace. "This is all I have left from before. The only real proof of who I am. Or at least, who I was."

"May I?"

Kairi shrugged and pulled the necklace off her neck and passed it to the old woman, who observed it with watering eyes. After a moment, she said, "It was our secret. My Kairi's and mine." She pulled the trinket that Sora had given her earlier out of her purse and held it out to Kairi.

"My charm!" the redhead said as she took both pieces from the former Queen. The old woman watched with hopeful eyes as Kairi hummed a tune and placed the necklace into a little nook in the middle of the crown that lay at the center of the shells. The top of the charm lifted up slightly and twisted, making a ten-pointed star instead of a five pointed one, and a song started to play. The same song that Kairi had been humming.

Kairi hummed the first bit of the song before softly singing, "We cannot separate, because you're part of me, even if you're invisible, you're love is not unseen…"

The former Queen sand the last part along with Kairi, and then the tears streaked down her old, weathered cheeks. She let out a happy laugh as she hugged her and said, "You really are my Kairi."

Kairi nodded her head, and let her tears fall again as she hugged the woman back. She knew that the former Queen's appearance had something to do with Sora, and whatever he had done, he had brought her back to her family.

Outside the window, Sora had kept himself hidden on the patio to listen to their conversation. He smiled to himself as he quickly climbed down the side of the mansion and headed towards the street. He looked back towards Kairi's room and blew a quick kiss in that direction before walking down the road.

Because no matter how much she questioned it, he really did love her.

**VVVVVVVV**

Kairi felt her heart hammer in her chest as she carefully looked through the box that her grandmother had set in front of her.

She was sitting on the floor of the former Queen's suite in her mansion (Yes, she had her own suite in a mansion, and apparently Kairi would be given one as well.) in a pair of comfortable pajamas made of pale blue silk and silver stitching. She was leaning against the cushioned chair that her grandmother was sitting in, observing Kairi with a warm smile.

She pulled a delicate picture out of the box, and stared at the faded sketch with interest. She giggled a bit before saying, "I remember this. Axel drew it for you when we were younger. He was so proud of it, but Larxene told him that it looked like a chocobo on fire."

There was a pause as she observed it before saying, "That's probably what it was supposed to be." She set the drawing down and picked up the picture underneath. There were five children sitting together, all with different expressions on their faces. Aurora was smiling politely, Larxene was scowling, Ariel was smiling brightly, Kairi was trying to shy away from the camera, and Axel was screaming. Kairi giggled at that before pulling out another picture where they were older. Again, Aurora was smiling politely, Larxene was scowling, and Ariel was smiling bright. This time though, Kairi was grinning like her redheaded sister, and Axel had a mischievous look on his face.

"I miss them," she blurted out as she ran her hands over the photograph. "It's not fair. We were so young. We hadn't done anything wrong."

"I know, my dear," her grandmother said comfortingly. "There has not been a day when I haven't asked myself why. They would not want us to be sad any longer though, now that we have found each other."

Kairi smiled warmly at the older woman and took her outstretched hand, squeezing it tightly. She set the picture down before saying, "I knew that my answers laid in Destiny Islands."

Her grandmother smiled back before motioning for her to stand up. Kairi did so, staring at her curiously as she started talking, "Oh, how you have grown, my darling granddaughter. It is so good to hear your voice." Kairi giggled and her grandmother added, "And when I hear your laughter, it's like listening to my Ansem again." Kairi wanted to argue with this, because she remembered her father having a rather booming, deep laugh, not at all like hers. She wasn't going to question it though, her grandmother was old and she had gone through more than anyone should have in their life.

Her grandmother motioned for Kairi to come over to a box that she had pulled out earlier, but had no opened. There was a strong lock on it and whatever was inside Kairi knew it was precious.

Her grandmother took a key out of her pocket and inserted it not into the lock, but underneath it in an intricate design. It was cleaver, Kairi thought to herself.

Kairi gasped as her grandmother carefully lifted up the top of the box, revealing a sparkling crown that appeared to be made up of only the most beautiful white diamonds. She felt her breath catch in her throat as her grandmother lifted the crown out of the box and said, "But you have the beauty of your mother, Giselle." She motioned for Kairi to face the mirror, and once she was staring at her reflection, the old woman gently placed the crown on top of her head. "Imperial Queen of all Radiant Garden."

Kairi's eyes were wide as she stared at herself in the mirror. This was real. She hadn't just found her family and who she was. She had found much more.

Suddenly, she felt sick to her stomach. What if she couldn't live up to people's expectations? What if she was expected to try to take the throne again? She didn't know how that would be possible without more bloodshed, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Tears built up in her eyes as she stared at herself. This was the same crown that her mother had worn for years. Her grandmother must have retrieved it after the siege. No, that wasn't right. Kairi searched through her dim memories and finally found the one she was looking for. Her mother and father had tried to ship out as much of their wealth as they could, as the people grew more and more restless. That was why Ariel, Aurora and her mother had been wearing the corsets with precious stones in them. She remembered that they didn't have time to fit her with one, so it was extremely lucky of her part that she didn't go with them that day.

Then, another thought push it's way into her mind. Sora. He would have been amazed at the crown. That's when the terrible truth truly hit her. How could she ever be with him if she was the ruler of Radiant Garden?

She breathed out loudly as she said, "Imperial Queen?"

Her grandmother hummed happily and said, "Yes. My Princess Kairi."

**VVVVVVVV**

Xemnas stood in the shadows up in a tall tree, peering into the large, brightly lit window of the Queen's mansion. Riku sat on a branch a few feet away from him, eyes flickering from Xehanort to Kairi and back.

"Everything," Xemas said evenly. "Is finally falling into place."

"Oh?" Riku asked cautiously.

"The former Queen holds much rage and anger in her, although she hides it well," Xemnas muttered, ignoring Riku for the moment. "She wants revenge on those that hurt her family. She wants her granddaughter to step up and fight for the throne."

"That would never work," Riku said. "There would be too much opposition to it in Radiant Garden."

"Yes, there would," Xemnas said, and for the first time, an evil smirk passed over his features. "And I plan on making the girl suffer."

"Why?" The younger of the two asked. "Ansem, he was a monster, even if his family didn't know it, yes. She didn't do anything though, so why should she suffer more?"

"Revenge," Xemnas answered simply. "She destroyed what once housed my heart, and in the process, that as well. Now, I'll destroy hers."

"You're going to destroy her heart?" Riku asked with alarm.

"Not in the way you're thinking," he said. "No, this is much more cruel."

Riku glanced down at the window at the girl that still stood rather stiffly in front of the mirror, observing herself wearing the glittering crown. As he stared at her, he knew. She didn't want to become the ruler of Radiant Garden anymore then the revolutionaries wanted her back there.

**VVVVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

Hope everyone who celebrates it had a Merry Christmas! My friend got me a necklace with the heart and crown from the Kingdom Hearts logo on it and I nearly died laughing. In all fairness, I got her a Kingdom Hearts ball cap. Can't wait until tomorrow! Super shopping time!

I know, I know, this chapter was pretty parallel to the movie, no need to point it out. What I'm actually trying to do in this fic is not work much with plot (since everyone knows that basics), but rather character. I'm also writing this entire fic from memory about the movie. I haven't watched it for quite a while. The fact that some parts are bang on actually makes me happy because it shows that my memory is still kickass!

Anyway, thank you (as always) to my reviewers! Eragonmetal6, Shire Folk, DAN88, catharsis25, chasingfireflies, Topaz Tsubasa and Trainalf! You guys are the best!

Anyway it's one in the morning and I am tired. Peace out!

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


	13. Mistake

**The Lost Princess**

_Chapter Twelve – Mistake_

"You're making a mistake," Roxas insisted as he observed his brother packing his bags with the minimal items that he owned. "You hate Radiant Garden."

Sora sighed as he set one of his old, worn shirts on the top of the small pile and said, "You're right by saying that I hate Radiant Garden, but you're wrong too. I know I'm doing the right thing in the long run."

"By running away?"

"From what?" Sora snapped back. "What am I running from, Roxas?"

"From Kairi!" he shouted.

He stopped backing his stuff and turned to stare at Roxas. "She doesn't need me anymore. She has her home, her family; the one thing she's always wanted. I know she forgave me for what I did, but still, I'll just be holding her back."

"What's with you? You always think you know what's best!" Roxas shot at him quickly. "How do you know that she won't choose to leave the royal life for you? All you're doing in running! It's all you've ever done!"

"Since when?" Sora shouted back. "When did I run Roxas? I didn't even run from the palace when it was being attacked!"

The two glared at each other heatedly before there was a light knock at the door. Both glanced around and saw Naminé peak in. She eyed them oddly for a moment before saying, "Sora, my great-aunt would like to speak with you."

"You're great—you mean the Queen?" he asked with alarm. He hadn't forgotten her comment about the punishment for kidnapping a Queen, even though he had thought she was only implying what could happen.

Naminé nodded and said, "She insisted on it. She'd like you to stop by her house today to speak with her. She said at one thirty would probably be best."

Sora glanced at the clock and did a few quick calculations in his head. He would be fine, time wise. Even if the former Queen spoke for an hour on end, it still gave him an extra house before his ferry had to leave.

"Alright," he replied as she snapped his suitcase shut. "I'm ready to leave anyway."

Roxas growled angrily before pushing passed Naminé and into the hallway, muttering angrily the entire time.

Naminé watched him go before turning to speak to Sora. "He doesn't want you to leave, you know. I know it's different, but when my sister died, I felt so alone. He thinks you're making a mistake for leaving both Kairi, and him."

"I can't stay here," he whispered. "I won't let her ruin her own life for me."

She opened her mouth to say something before saying, "My driver will take you to my great-aunt's house, and he'll wait to drive you to the train station. Unless you change your mind."

"I won't," he said sternly. "Thank you Naminé. Goodbye."

She watched him leaving and said, "Sora, not everything is about money. There are more important things in life. Some things are even worth being in working class for."

He stopped walking, but he didn't face her. She thought for a moment that he would turn around, but he kept walking. "She's better off without me."

**VVVVVVV**

The former Imperial Queen of Radiant Garden, Lareen, as she had been named, had once been an adventurous and stubborn younger girl. Back when she was young, she had been a troublemaker with a bad temper. She had never taken loss very well, but she had thought she grew out of the burning desires she used to have for revenge.

She sighed as she looked out the large windows in her office. While Kairi had admittedly been the favorite of her grandchildren, she supposed that Larxene had been the most like her. The girl had even been named after her, in a way.

She wanted Kairi to rise up to take the throne of Radiant Garden. She knew that there were many people who would support it, but she had seen the reluctance on the young woman's face. Kairi had no want to start a war. She didn't seem to have the same thirst for revenge that her grandmother did, and if she did have it she hid it well.

Her own husband had almost started a war during his time when he became the Emperor of Radiant Garden and the King of the directly neighboring country, Hallow Bastion. Over time he had no choice but to unite Hallow Bastion with Radiant Garden, but he always kept the title Imperial King, as had his own son, and she had always assumed that the tradition would go on for ages. It was funny how things could change so radically, so quickly.

The old woman was torn out of her thoughts, as there was a knock at the door and one of the butlers entered. "Your Highness, there is a young man here to see you."

"Let him enter," she replied, and a moment later, Sora entered the room. She eyed him, noting that his clothes were a little shabby, but she assumed that they were newer. If he had lived in the ruins of the palace all these years, he certainly had never stolen the riches from it for himself. It made her wonder why he would not do that, yet he was willing to con her into believing any young girl was her granddaughter for money. Still, he really did find her and bring her to him.

She motioned to the suitcase on her table with the money in it and said, "Your reward, as promised, and my gratitude for finding my granddaughter as well."

"I accept your gratitude," He replied. "But I can't accept your money."

This surprised her. She eyed the young man down, causing him to shift a little where he stood. She stared into his eyes, trying to read them, before recognition set in. She had seen this boy before.

Thinking back to the night when most of her family was murdered, she remembered the young boy that had saved her and Kairi. Albeit, his hair had been darker and spiked a little bit differently, but she recognized his eyes.

"It was you, wasn't it?" she asked as she walked around her desk, stopping a few feet away from him. "You saved her life, and my own, and then you returned her to me, yet you want to reward?"

"I told Kairi about everything before going to see you that night," Sora muttered. "I told her it all. I never wanted to hurt her, and I'm positive that I don't want your money. It's the least I can do."

She saw something flicker through his cerulean eyes, a look of sadness. He shook his head slightly and she asked, "Why the change of mind?"

Sora didn't struggle for an answer. He knew why he refused the reward being offered to him. "It was more a change of heart. I must go now, you're highness." He quickly bowed before leaving the room.

She stared at his retreating figure and everything clicked into place. A knowing smile passed over her features. She chuckled a bit to herself as she realized why he had refused the money. It was one of the reasons Kairi did not want to be the Imperial Queen.

Weighing her options in her head, she made a decision. She had to let go of the past, like she told her granddaughter to do. Revenge would get them nowhere.

**VVVVVVV**

Kairi hummed to herself as she stood on a pair of surprisingly comfortable heels, facing away from the large mirror behind her. Never once (That she could remember.), not even when she had gone to the ballet, had she ever felt this glamorous.

Currently, she was dressed in a rather beautiful gown that was made up of primarily matt-pink material, with bright blue lining. There was a shimmering white sash around her upper body and the same material fell from where the sleeves of her off-shoulder dress ended on her shoulders, giving it the effect of sleeves. On top of that, there was some sort of mesh material over the dress with sparkles and diamonds woven through it.

She heard one of the maids laugh and the woman who was making the last finishing touches of the dress clapped her hands together as she stood up. "It's finished, your highness. You may look now."

Kairi turned around and gasped when she saw her reflection. The dress was absolutely gorgeous! She spun around, allowing the material around her waist to flow around her. It was perfect, even if the top was a little tight (which she had been told, was usually best). Her hair had been quickly pulled back into a fast, but very neat, bun, and the jewelry that was supposed to be worn with the dress was put on her by one of the maids. She refused to put any makeup on, despite their insistence. After all, this was just a trial for the dress. She wouldn't actually be wearing it until the end of the week.

She heard a few of the maids whisper about how beautiful she looked, and for the first time, she really believed it. No, that wasn't true. She believed it whenever Sora complimented her.

Smiling brightly, she said, "I'd like to go show my grandmother."

"Of course," the seamstress said as she put her needles and thread to the side.

Kairi, grinning all the way, walked out of the room and across the marble floor of her grandmother's mansion towards the stairs. The old woman had told her she had a meeting earlier, but Kairi was sure it was finished.

To make sure she wasn't stepping on her dress, she watched her feet as she started ascending the stairs, until she heard a sharp intake of breath from above her.

Looking up quickly, her eyes met a pair of familiar cerulean ones. Shock passed through her body as she stared at Sora for a moment. She suddenly felt a huge smile pass over her face as she quickly moved up a few more steps to be level with him, her eyes shining with happiness. She giggled a bit when she saw how he was eyeing her while blushing slightly.

She made to hug him, but he quickly stepped away from her. She couldn't help but let the hurt well up inside of her, but she pushed those feelings aside quickly. He was probably just busy, that was all. "Sora. Are you leaving now?"

"My business here is complete," he said evenly as he made to pass her. "I'm glad you found what you're looking for."

Kairi was taken back by his cold tone of voice and she looked down sadly before saying, "Well then, I guess I'm glad you got whatever it is you really wanted."

There was a tense pause between them before either spoke. "I had better be going now," Sora said, a bit of his edge leaving his voice. Kairi stared at him with confusion. Why did he look so sad at the thought of leaving, when he was just going back to Naminé's house?

"Do not speak to the Princess disrespectfully," her grandmother's majordomo said sternly from the ground floor.

"No, it's alright," Kairi said quickly.

"He's right," Sora replied as he bowed. "Goodbye, your highness." With that he continued on his way down the stairs.

Kairi turned to watch him go, and felt confusion running through her. She wanted to run after him, but she didn't. Instead, she stayed standing on the stairwell and whispered, "Goodbye."

**VVVVVVV**

Riku looked up from the ground as he watched the brunet get in line. He watched as the young man constantly looked behind him, as if waiting for something. Riku knew he was having second thoughts about leaving Destiny Islands.

The boat wouldn't be leaving for a half an hour, and he knew that Sora was weighing his options carefully. He had a half an hour to decide if he wanted to stay or not.

Riku half wondered why Sora was returning to Radiant Garden of all places. After years of living with Sora and Roxas (even if they didn't know it), he knew how much Sora hated Radiant Garden, the cold in particular, and the boy did not hate much.

In a way, it was almost like Sora was a friend of his, even if he didn't know it. Riku could easily tell that he was making a mistake.

As Sora reached the front of the line and got his ticket for the ferry, Riku made his decision. Neither Sora nor Kairi deserved what Xemnas had planned for them. At one point of time, Xehanort had been a brilliant man, a little twisted, but never as insane as Xemnas was. Losing his heart had made the Nobody go mad in a way that was beyond motions.

Riku moved quickly as Sora was walking towards the boat. He crashed into him purposely, causing Sora to tumble to the ground.

"Watch it!" Sora snapped, as he moved to grab his suitcase.

"You're making a mistake," Riku said quickly.

Sora's head snapped up and he eyed him oddly. He moved to his feet slowly and said, "What?"

"Don't go back to Radiant Garden," Riku warned. "I know you don't know me, but it doesn't matter. I know what you're going through—"

"Do you always just walk up to strangers and talk to them like you know them?" Sora interrupted him with a skeptic tone. Now that he thought about it though, this tall, young man looked extremely familiar for some reason, but he couldn't quite place him.

Riku growled angrily and said, "If you go back to Radiant Garden, you won't have time to regret it, Sora."

Sora took a step away from him, confusion passing over his features. There was no way this person could have known his name unless he really did know him…

"Everyone else has told me I'd regret it," he started. "You're the first to say I won't have time to. I didn't listen to my twin brother, as you probably know somehow, so what makes you think I'm going to listen to some type of crazed stalker?" With that, Sora quickly turned and made his way up the ramp to the ferry.

Riku was half tempted to run after him and to yank him back off the boat, but he didn't have the chance. Sure, he probably could have made a portal of darkness to get onto the ferry (he had learned how to do so during his time with Xemnas), but he knew that Sora wouldn't trust him at all then.

He weighed his options as he watched the ferry pull away and he finally decided that he'd have to find another way to try and fix his mistakes. He should have never given Xemnas the Dark Keyblade.

Riku pondered that for a moment. He had been told that Xehanort traded his very being for the Dark Keyblade. It made sense now that he knew that Xehanort had been split into two separate beings, but he couldn't understand why someone would do that. There had been a time, a few years back, when his desperation to actually do something, to get out of the small world he lived in, may have made him do the exact same thing, but not anymore.

Everything needed to be balanced, Riku acknowledge. Everything has its equal and opposite.

So if there was a Dark Keyblade, shouldn't there be a light one?

**VVVVVVV**

Roxas sighed as he watched the ferry steadily sail away. He knew Sora was on it, he could feel it, and he wished he couldn't. His brother, the person who had always been there for him, had left him.

There had only been two times they had ever been apart without knowing if they'd really see each other again. One time had been when Roxas had come to Destiny Islands to get the layout of the land. He had met Naminé then, and even though he was only there for a short time, and he had been, there was no doubt denying it, using her. He had regretted leaving Destiny Islands that day, but he couldn't leave his brother behind.

The only other time that they had been apart was on the siege of the castle. Their mother had hidden him in a small, secret panel underneath the cupboards and told him to wait there. She had been killed only a few minutes later, but ended up taking one of the cruel men with her. He had been so scared that he had lost Sora too, but his brother had been found unconscious in Princess Kairi's room

Now, Sora really was leaving him. He knew it was almost greedy for him to think like that, but it was true. They were twins! They had been together since before they were even born!

He was also mad because he knew that Sora would regret letting go of Kairi and he was willing to bet that she didn't even know. He would regret leaving this place. Actually, he had no clue why his brother was going back to Radiant Garden of all places. He was positive that it would only make the memories harsher, but he didn't question it. Sometimes he really couldn't keep up with Sora's thought process.

Roxas sighed sadly. He wondered if Kairi really knew that Sora was leaving Destiny Islands all together? If she did, then he couldn't figure out why she wouldn't have tried to stop Sora. It wasn't like they were in bad terms or anything. In fact, the last he had heard from Naminé, Kairi had practically been pining to see Sora again.

He leaned against the window a little more and looked down when he heard a whimper. Goofy sat by his feet, staring up at him. The dog had been staying at Naminé's house, the maid Rikku looking after him. Still, Roxas knew that the poor little dog was probably sad without the people he was familiar with around.

Roxas sat on the ground, and Goofy climbed into his lap. He scratched the dog behind the ears and hoped that everything would work itself out.

**VVVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

Happy New Years guys! Twenty ten, doesn't that sound so much cooler than 2009? Lol wish I could say I went to some fun party last night, but it snowed, so my friend and I spent our time watching Ice Age 3, Balto, and then we played KH2 from the beginning, stopped to see the 30 second count down to new years (yes, we tuned in exactly for 30 seconds), then went back to playing KH2. I'm not even lying. God we're losers. Oh well, not much you can do in a snow storm.

Thank you to all the awesome people who reviewed! Swanna, DAN88, Shire Folk, Topaz Tsubasa, sillysally, chasingfireflies, catharsis25, 11xNaNx11.

So, I promise I'll definitely update on January 11th at least. Why? Cause it's my birthday that day. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get around to updating beforehand though.

_**Krystal Lily Potter **_


	14. Now You Know

**The Lost Princess**

_Chapter Thirteen – Now You Know_

Riku climbed up the stairs in the tower where Xemnas was hiding. The old, wooden stairs creaked loudly under his feet as he ascended up the tower, and he had no doubt that Xemnas already knew he was there. He sighed heavily as he reluctantly pushed open the door, but he only got about two steps inside of the room before he saw the oddest thing. Xemnas was reading the newspaper.

"Riku," he said as he tossed the paper down onto the table. "Look."

He frowned and moved forward, glancing down at the paper. The headline read "Lost Princess of Radiant Garden Found", and underneath it was a picture of Kairi from when she was younger. No current images were being released yet. Riku read about how the Queen was holding a ball in the young woman's honor on Saturday night.

"We're going to be having a party ourselves that night," Xemnas said. "And then, my curse shall be fulfilled."

Riku looked up at him sharply before looking at the picture of the smiling girl on the page. She didn't know, when that picture was taken, that her family would soon be torn away from her in a bloody siege sparked by a dark curse.

And he had helped it happen.

_Riku stared at the gates. People were roaring and pushing that them, determined to get inside. They held torches, and other manner of weapons. Still, the gates were exceedingly strong, and they could not pass._

_Master Xehanort would not like that, he decided quickly. Xehanort had found him as a young child on the streets and had given him a home. He owed it to the man to help him._

_Riku crept forward, and a few of the people directly in front of the gates stopped moving. They watched as he reached up (for even as a child, he had been tall for his age) and pushed open the last locked that remained shut on the gate. Then, as the crowd started flooding in, he moved out of the way._

_  
As he watched the men charge at the palace, yelling and roaring in hate, Riku felt guilt pass through him. They would have gotten the gate open eventually, that was true, but he knew he had just done a terrible thing._

**VVVVVVVVVVV**

Sora shivered as he held his jacket tighter around his body. He had forgotten how cold it really was in Radiant Garden. It seemed like years since he had been there, even though it had only been a few months.

"Odd," he muttered to himself as he walked down the snow covered streets. "Usually the snow's mostly gone by now." There _was_ less snow than the last time he had been there, but still more than he really liked.

With a sigh, he went through the servant's corridors of the old, dusty palace. Without so much as a glance at the familiar, worn furniture, he tossed his suitcase on the couch and kept walking.

His footsteps echoed around him as he walked through the halls. For the first time in his life, he truly felt alone. Even when Roxas had gone to Destiny Islands, he had still felt like there was another presence there with him. Some people would have called it creepy, but he thought it was comforting. Now the halls felt empty.

Sora made he way to the ballroom and before he realized it, he found himself standing in front of a large portrait. He sighed again and brushed the dust off of the painting of Kairi. He eyed her before saying, "I found you Princess. Just like I promised myself I would."

**VVVVVVVVVVV**

Laughter escaped Kairi's lips as she attempted to tug a pair of her pajama pants away from Goofy, who was being rather stubborn and insisted on not letting go. She was supposed to be getting ready to go somewhere with her grandmother, but instead she decided that she'd rather play tug-of-war with her puppy. She had been ignoring him a lot lately. Roxas took care of him most of the time now, but she was glad that the blond had dropped her puppy off.

There was a stern cough from the door and Kairi jumped, losing grip on her pajamas and tumbling to the floor. She groaned and rubbed her sore behind before looking over the top of her bed to see who was at the door. Just like she expected, her grandmother was standing with a firm look on her face.

"I'm sorry," Kairi mumbled as she got up. "But I've been neglecting Goofy lately and—"

"Hurry and get ready, there's much to be done, my dear," the old woman said before quickly leaving the room.

Kairi sighed and flopped onto her almost uncomfortably comfortable bed. She loved her grandmother, she really did, and she was glad that she found her, but Kairi wasn't cut out to be a Princess. Not in the way she was expected to be. Who could blame her though? She had spent most of her life living in a run-down orphanage.

She pushed herself off of the bed and moved over to her wardrobe. She flicked through the expensive clothes for a moment before she found the dress Sora had given her. Kairi sighed and stared at it, it was definitely the cheapest of all her clothes now, but it was her favorite. Well, it was the favorite of her clothes, but only second to one thing. She reached farther in and pulled out a short-sleeved, zip up hoodie that was much too big for her.

Kairi let out another sigh as she flopped backwards onto her bed and held Sora's shirt to her tightly. She was starting to really miss him, even though it had only been a few days.

Goofy barked and tried to jump onto her bed, but he ended up falling backwards instead. She giggled a bit before reaching down and picking him up. He nuzzled into her stomach, before sitting on Sora's shirt and letting out a whine.

"You miss him too?" Kairi muttered. "Me too. He really did bring me home, and I know he cares about me. I've just been so busy."

Goofy barked again and she pushed herself off of her bed. She sat up and grabbed some clothes to put on. She decided to herself that she'd talk to him later. After all, he was only at Naminé's house. It wasn't like he was that far away.

**VVVVVVVVVVV**

Parties sucked, that much Kairi came to know. She had wanted to go to Naminé's house to attempt to speak to Sora, but she was preoccupied for the entire day. She followed her grandmother around for the entire day preparing for the 'small get-together' for that night. As far as she could tell, a 'small get-together' meant a ball with well over a hundred people involved. She hadn't seen the newspaper article until later on that day, when it was too late to attempt to run away.

At one point of time, she had felt like shrinking away into a closet and never coming out. This was way too much way too fast. She felt like her grandmother was expecting too much of her. She was remembering more and more every day, but the thought that she was a Princess was still new. She had been a poor, orphaned nobody for ten years, it wasn't something she could easily shake off.

Goofy snored on her bed, kicking his legs as he dreamed. She smiled a bit as she eyed her dog. It was good to see that he hadn't changed much. Then again, he was a dog.

She jumped onto her bed (Causing Goofy to raise his head and stare at her oddly before going back to sleep.), and bounced for a moment before reaching out to grab the phone that was placed on her nightstand. She had her hand on the receiver and was about to pick it up to call Naminé's house, when a loud knock echoed from her door.

She sighed and called out, "Yes?"

The door open and one of the maids came in and said, "You must start getting ready for the ball, you're highness."

Kairi gave her an odd look before twisting around to look at the clock in her room. She turned around and said, "It's not for five more hours."

The maid's eyes widened and she said, "Only five? Oh, we are behind! Come miss, we'll get you ready!"

Kairi groaned as she followed the maid away. She didn't know what would take five hours, but she sure wasn't looking forward to it.

**VVVVVVVVVVV**

The first thing that Kairi had gone through was an embarrassing situation (for her) of being stripped down by the maids and practically thrown into the bath. Once she was in the warm waters, the maids scrubbed at her hair quickly and poured strong, floral scented soaps into the water before telling Kairi to scrub quickly. She felt like she was in an old time when their maids would bath women of a high class.

Once she was deemed clean enough, a robe was thrown onto her and she was pulled away into another room and pushed into a chair where people started pulling at her hair. A few of them tutted about how her hair should have been longer and more elegant, but there was nothing she could have done about that in the past. Kairi had always managed to keep herself relatively clean, but long hair would have made it a lot harder to do so. So these picky women would just have to live with the fact that her hair wasn't down her to her waist. Despite that fact, that managed to get her hair up into an elegant bun.

Afterwards, she was moved to another room where several women worked on her makeup. She had never before had so many layers of something that wasn't just soap and water on her skin.

Then, finally, she was off to put on her dress. While she absolutely loved the dress itself, she hated the thought of wearing it. The reason was simple, and it was one that kept ringing through her mind as she looked at herself in front of the mirror as her shimmering crown was placed onto her head.

She had never felt so fake in her life.

Still, Kairi smiled to the maids and everyone else, but kept her frowns to herself. Time had gone by so quickly, that soon Kairi found herself waiting outside of her grandmother's ballroom.

She peaked through the curtains that led from the ballroom to the grand patio outside. Her indigo eyes took in all the happy people dancing, laughing and talking. Déjà vu passed through her as she distantly remembered the last time she had seen such a sight. It was the last thing she had done with the rest of her family before they were murdered.

Kairi swallowed nervously when she saw several photographers in the crowd, waiting for her to appear. She almost missed Radiant Garden, because along with the lesser technology that was available to the public since the revolution, the laws against freedom of journalism were strict. It was a terrible thing, yes, but she really didn't want to deal with photographers that just wanted a picture of the long-lost Imperial Princess of Radiant Garden.

"He's not there, is he?"

Kairi jumped a bit and turned around as her grandmother approached her, wearing a similarly styled dress, but it was changed to suit her age a little better. Kairi smiled warmly at her before turning back and looking at the crowd before saying, "No he—who grandma?"

The old woman chuckled at her granddaughter's clueless expression before saying, "A certain young man who discovered a certain musical charm?"

Kairi felt a wave longing pass through her, but she kept her face straight. Still, the pain showed across her eyes as she pretended that she didn't care that Sora wasn't there. "Oh, no. I imagine he's probably out spending as much of his money as fast as he can. I hope I can see him later though."

Her grandmother sighed and walked up beside Kairi so she could see the ballroom. She placed a hand on the younger woman's shoulder and said, "You were born into this life of glamorous parties and glittering jewels, but I wonder if it's enough?"

"Of course it's enough," Kairi said in a shocked tone as she dropped the curtain and faced her grandmother, her dress swishing around her as she moved. "I found everything I was looking for. I found where I belong. I found you."

The former Queen moved forward and hugged Kairi tightly as she said, "And you'll always have me, but as I said, is it enough?" She paused for a moment before adding, "He didn't take the money. He said he had a change of heart."

Kairi jerked away quickly, and her indigo eyes widened with shock. She opened her mouth to speak several times before managing to say, "He didn't? But I thought—even after he told me—I guess I..."

There was a pause as she turned away and walked towards the French doors behind her, holding her necklace tightly in her hand. She felt tears welding up in her eyes, but she blinked them away, refusing to let them fall.

"It's up to you to make your own decision, my dear," her grandmother said. "Just remember, whatever you're decision is, I will always be here for you. You will always have a home here."

Kairi took in her words as she stared up at the darkening sky. She bit her lip before turning quickly and saying, "Grandma, can't you—" Kairi stopped in mid sentence when she realized that her grandmother had left the room. Slowly, Kairi turned around again as she thought.

Happiness crept through her. He hadn't taken the money, and for some reason, that meant more to her than anything else. As much as she was certain he cared for her, she had been having doubts ever since his cold attitude towards her before. The fact that he didn't take the money was proof enough that, in the end at least, he wasn't just using her to make a better life for himself.

A happy laugh escaped Kairi's lips. There was really no choice to make once she thought it through.

**VVVVVVVVVVV**

"Naminé! Roxas!"

The two blonds in question had been enjoying each other's company in the gardens, having abandoned the ballroom quite a while ago. Naminé was sitting on a finely carved, white stone bench, and Roxas was sitting on the grass at her feet. Both were smartly dressed, and Kairi couldn't help but find them adorable.

"Hello Kairi," Naminé said to her with a warm smile. "Roxas and I were getting a little tired of being in such a big crowd, so we decided to find Goofy and take him for a walk." She pointed to where the dog in question was prancing around a fountain happily. "What brings you here? You didn't even make an appearance inside yet, and you ran here?"

Kairi nodded as she caught her breath. She breathed in deeply and got straight to the point, "Where's Sora?"

Naminé's smile fell off of her face, replaced by a confused look. Roxas tilted his head and shot her an odd look, but Kairi clearly saw a saddened look pass across his eyes.

"What?" She asked them after a moment of silence.

"He left," Naminé replied slowly.

Kairi blinked, and this time it was her turn to look confused. She tilted her head (The same motion that she had adopted from Sora and Roxas.) before asking, "What do you mean, he _left_?"

"We thought you knew," Roxas said. "He went back to Radiant Garden. He kept saying it was the best thing he could do for you." After thinking about it for a while, he had been positive that Kairi had known Sora was leaving, but it looked like he was wrong.

"But he—I thought he hated Radiant Garden?" Kairi asked, her mind still not quite grasping the larger picture yet.

"He does," Roxas said hesitantly. He couldn't stop the bitterness from creeping into his voice as he spoke to her. He knew it wasn't a fair accusation, but in a way, it was her fault that Sora had left. "He left because he cares about you."

"What?"

Roxas hesitated again, and he felt the bitterness wash away at her expression. What had happened was sinking in now. He knew it was because he could see the tears building up in her eyes. "He left a few days ago. He told me, more then once, that 'princesses don't marry kitchen boys' and 'she's better off without me'. That in itself should say more than anything else, Kairi."

"He's gone?" she repeated in a quiet tone.

"He's gone."

Kairi sank to the grass below her, not caring about getting stains on her pale colored dress She put her face in her hands and shook her head violently. Naminé was about to lean down to comfort her, but Kairi's head snapped up and she said, "That—that idiot! When I get a hold of him…" She trailed off as she looked back up to the sky.

She stayed seated on the grass for quite a while, and she knew that, while Naminé wanted to sit with her, the blonde was getting bored. Roxas had begun picking at the grass, and Goofy was busy staring at a white duck (Whom Kairi had dubbed Donald when she discovered him.) in a pond not far from them, having abandoned the fountain.

"You guys go out, and have fun, I'll catch up later," she said suddenly, not wanting them to waste their night sitting with her.

"You sure Kairi?" Naminé asked hesitantly. "This party is for you, you know."

"I need some time to think," Kairi replied while glancing up at Roxas. He eyed her for a moment before nodding and pulling a reluctant Naminé back towards the ballroom.

Kairi sat on her own, piecing together how much it would cost her to get back to Radiant Garden, and how to convince Sora to come back with her once she got there. Each idea she formed would quickly become filled with unknown factors and roadblocks, but she knew they would be worth it.

He had found her again after so many years, and she intended on returning the favor. After all, they had shared a paopu fruit even before really knowing each other. Their destinies were intertwined, and she knew that she would go crazy without him.

'_So much for being an independent woman who doesn't need a man in her life,'_ she thought idly as she continued to scheme.

The sound of footsteps behind her caused Kairi to look around. She saw a young man with silver hair standing before her, and couldn't help but find that he looked extremely familiar for some reason. She opened her mouth to speak, but he quickly cut her off by saying, "Sora's in danger."

Kairi stood up quickly and took a few steps away from the mysterious young man and asked, "What?"

"There's not much time, but you had to know," he said quickly. "The person who, in the long run, is the cause of the destruction of your family, well…he's still alive. We all thought that he was dead, that you had destroyed him, but you didn't. You only destroyed half of him. Now the half that's still left wants to finish what the first half started. He wants you dead, but he wants you to suffer first."

Kairi tried to keep up with the confusing story, not quite understanding how she could have destroyed a person at all, let alone half of one. She took a few more steps away from him and asked, "Why should I believe any of that? It's just pure madness. Besides, if it was true, how do you know all this?"

He hesitated before saying, "My name's Riku, and I know all this because I've working for him. I—I know what he's doing isn't right though. You have to understand, I was as manipulated by him as much as your father was. I owed him everything."

"You—"

Riku cut Kairi off quickly and said, "Yes, I worked for the man who, essentially, murdered your family. You can yell at me, hit me, and punish me later and I won't complain. I deserve it, I know I do. Now though, there's something more important to deal with. Xemnas wants you to break for what you did to him. He wants your heart to be ripped to pieces, and to do that, he's going to take away the things that you love most, one by one."

The entire story was madness, and Kairi certainly didn't know this young man, but she knew she had seen him before. There was something about his story that struck the whispers of a memory inside of her. She remembered a man with silver hair grabbing her leg, and then she remembered seeing bright light, but nothing else was clear. Just like with those creatures in the water when their ship was attacked.

He admittedly worked for a person that he said killed her family, yet she felt herself inclining to believe him. It didn't make sense, but her heart told her to believe him.

Finally, what he was saying hit her. She visibly winced and said, "Sora's in danger, and it's because of me…"

**VVVVVVVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

I have officially spoiled Birth by sleep for myself. I regret nothing. Actually, that's not true. There's one part in the secret ending that makes me rage and makes me want to send much hate mail to Square Enix. I'll leave you with that though.

Since I know someone would ask, Sora got back to Radiant Garden quick because there were no setbacks on his trip. He got back fairly quickly.

Shire Folk, DAN88, Trainalf, catharsis25, 11xNaNx11, Topaz Tsubasa, and Chasingfireflies…you guys all make my day! Seriously.

So I said that I was going to update on the 11th, but I lied. It's 10:41 on the 10th were I am now. Oh well, it's January 11th somewhere out there. Ew, I'm old.

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


	15. Balance

**The Lost Princess**

_Chapter Fourteen - Balance_

"What are you going to do about this?"

Riku glanced over at Kairi, who suddenly had a determined look on her face. He stared at her for a moment, before asking, "Excuse me?"

"You feel guilty about everything that's happened," she reminded him, having listened to everything that this Xemnas had done to try and kill her recently. "Now you want a chance to right everything, right?"

"Of course I do, but—"

"No buts," she interrupted. "You must have some sort of plan, or were you just here to inform me that he's going to die?"

Riku stared at her again before saying, "I wanted to make sure you wouldn't do anything stupid, I guess. I could protect you from Xemnas. I could—"

"No!" Kairi said, her voice raising several octaves. "No! We're going to find a way to help Sora! I won't let him die! Not like everyone else!"

Riku sighed and glanced up at the sky before saying, "I may—I may have a way to get there, to Radiant Garden, almost instantaneously. I don't know what I can do though."

"Get him out!" she said shrilly. "Bring him back here where Xemnas can't hurt him! Please! You want to make it up to me? Save him!"

He hesitated, but then he realized something. This would be his only chance to start making up for everything that he had done in the past. He knew he couldn't, in good conscious, leave Sora to die. Although the young man didn't know him, Riku certainly knew him. They had coexisted in the same space for years, but Riku knew how to keep out of sight so neither Sora nor Roxas had ever known.

"Alright," he answered confidently, his mind made up. "I'll go stop Xemnas and I'll try to save Sora in the process."

While Kairi was glad that Riku was going, she still had little faith in him. The words 'I'll try' kept ringing through her head. She knew the only way that she could guarantee Sora's survival was if she saved him herself.

"I'm going with you," she blurted out. "I'm not going to let him die."

"No," he replied firmly. "Xemnas wants you dead. You'll be playing into his hands."

"Don't you get it? There are things worth sacrificing yourself for!" she yelled at him.

Riku shook his head wildly before saying, "No. I don't care. You're staying here."

Tears welded up in Kairi's eyes as she watched Riku raise his hand. A thrill of fear mingling with fascination shot through her as a swirling sphere of what looked like black, grey and purple smoke materialized out of nowhere as Riku raised his lowered.

"I'm sorry," he said to her as he turned towards the portal. "I'll do what I can."

"So will I," she replied with a determined voice. Riku was about to turn back to ask her what she was talking about, but he didn't get the chance. She shot passed him and into the portal before he could stop her.

**VVVVVVVV**

Sora let out a sigh as he fell back onto the dusty, well broken-in couch. He hadn't done much since returning to his self-created prison. He barely even ate anything because he just didn't feel like it. If Roxas had been there, he would have pointed out that Sora was quickly falling into a state of depression.

His eyes started to close as he settled in for an uncomfortable sleep, when a loud crash caused him to fall onto the hard floor. He pushed himself up and looked around in confusion. That crash had originated from the direction of the ballroom.

Sora was about to run towards the ballroom, but he hesitated. An odd feeling passed through him, as if something dark and dangerous was waiting down that corridor. Still, what if there had been a person in the room and they were hurt?

He eyed the hall for a moment before his eyes landed on the wall beside it. He quickly pushed in a piece of the wall, and a small portion of it popped open. He opened it further and quickly ducked inside, closing it tightly behind him. He was surprised the thin, tiny corridors weren't filled to the brim with spider webs, but they certainly had their fair share of dust.

Sora quickly moved through the passage, using his memory as best as he could to navigate his way towards the ballroom. He had used this path many times in his past, the last time being the night that Xehanort had placed the curse on the Hart family.

Finally, Sora reached his final destination. He quietly pushed open the secret passage and glanced around the ballroom. Sure enough, the chandelier was shattered on the floor, but aside from that, there was nothing else there.

Still, something was telling Sora not to just walk out, but he shrugged it off. He was being stupid and paranoid. This was an old place with little maintenance (only the place where he and Roxas had lived was actually kept up). It wasn't all that surprising that it was falling apart.

He let out a groan and shook his head. He was way to paranoid, but in all fairness, he was the only person (that he knew of) living in the old, abandoned palace.

After closing the secret passage behind him, Sora quickly moved towards the fallen chandelier. He eyed the shattered crystal and was about to reach down to pick a piece of it up, but the hairs on the back of his neck stuck on end.

Without looking up, he suddenly jumped backwards. A split second later, a piece of the ceiling landed where he had been. His heart was pumping wildly as he took a few steps backwards. That was when a large sphere of darkness appeared in front of him. Sora continued to back away as a figure appeared out of it.

For a moment, Sora's blue eyes met his orange ones before his attention was drawn to the oddly shaped, dark object in his hand.

"_I banish you, Ansem, with a curse. You and all of your family shall die."_

Suddenly everything clicked together and Sora's eyes narrowed as he snarled, "I know who you are. What do you want?"

With an expressionless face, Xemnas took a few steps forward and said, "I want the Princess dead, but I want her to suffer first. I'm going to take everything that she holds close away from her, and you are the most important part of that."

Sora was about to reply when he felt something bite his leg. He let out a yell of pain and managed to kick whatever was on him off. It was a small creature that was pure black with antennas and glowing yellow eyes. Sora looked around him and saw several of the creatures waiting to pounce. After a moment, he realized that they had the same, beady yellow eyes that the jellyfish creatures that had attacked their ship did.

Xemnas moved his hand quickly, and the creatures jumped. Luckily for Sora, they didn't appear all that smart as he dodged out of the way and they crashed into each other. Then, Sora heard Xemnas yell something.

What happened next went in slow motion and double time, and it was the oddest sensation that Sora had ever felt.

A raging fire erupted from the wall closest to Sora, He stumbled away from it, but he could still feel the searing heat, especially in his arm. He didn't look at it, but he expected that it had been burned fairly badly. He knew it couldn't be a normal fire because of how quickly it was spreading, and how ferocious it was.

Sora looked up as the fire made it's way towards the ceiling and quickly dashed down the hall, those creepy little black things following him. If he was away from the fire, at least he stood a chance to fight those stupid little things off.

**VVVVVVVV**

The raging fire in the Hart Palace quickly caught the attention of many of the towns' people, but not for the obvious reasons. It was a windy night, and the fire was starting to spread to other buildings. None of the people could explain how the fire crossed such far distances, but they just accepted that it did. None of them could have known that it was, of all things, a magical fire.

In a desperate attempt to stop the flames from consuming everything, several people started heading towards the Hart palace to put out the flames.

A tiny boy watched them and looked at his friends before saying, "Come on, we can help too! My daddy's going, see?"

"I dunno," a few of the others whispered to him.

"Fine, stay here," the boy snapped before turning around and running to the burning palace.

**VVVVVVVV**

When Kairi ran through the portal, she felt like she had stepped into artic temperatures. She shivered from the cold, but kept running straight, not knowing where she was going exactly. After a few minutes, she stopped running, realizing that she was getting nowhere.

"You're really are stubborn, aren't you?"

She jumped and turned to look at Riku as he caught up with her. He eyed her with disproval and said, "I'll hand it to you though. You can run in those heels."

"Which way to do we go?" Kairi asked him quickly, not wanting to waste much more time.

"Since going back is farther away, and you really shouldn't be in the darkness, we'll go that way," Riku pointed ahead of them before grabbing onto Kairi's arm. "Don't try anything stupid again."

She winced and said, "You're hurting me."

His grip loosened a bit, but he didn't look at her as he guided her through the darkness. "I'm not used to interacting with people."

"I can tell," she muttered. She winced a bit as a sudden bright portal of light appeared in front of them, shielding her eyes.

Riku frowned and said, "Something's wrong."

"What do you mean something's—" she cut herself off as the distinct smell of burning floated around her, followed by the yells of people. Her eyes widened and she quickly tried to sprint forward again, but Riku was prepared this time.

"Stick by me," he demanded before heading out of the portal. The scene that they stumbled upon was pure chaos.

There were people everywhere trying to put out a raging fire that was engulfing the once grand ballroom of the Hart palace. Kairi's eyes widened in surprise as she looked around, watching many of the portraits of her family burn out of existence, but at the same time she was looking for a distinct head of spiky hair.

"Stay here," Riku said to her urgently as he pushed her back away from the fire. "If it spreads more, get out. This isn't normal fire; it's a dark firaga spell. Water's not going to put it out." He shot forward and into the fray of people quickly, and just as quickly, she lost sight of him.

Kairi bit her lip as she looked at the chaos before her, not quite sure what to do. She couldn't help but wince as she heard the echo of screaming and yelling that she was sure no one else could hear. This was all just too familiar.

A sudden (real) yell caught her attention, and her head whipped around. On the floor, leg trapped under a piece of fallen debris, was a young boy. Kairi blinked wildly, and for a moment he had spiky red hair instead of oddly styled blond hair. She shook her head and, without much of a thought, rushed forward, not caring if she tore her beautiful dress.

As she reached the young boy, a tall man also appeared on the scene, yelling something. From the gist of it, she got the impression that this was the boy's father.

"Lift the wood up!" Kairi yelled to him. "I'll drag him out!"

The man nodded without looking at her, and managed to lift up the wood on the sobbing child's leg. Kairi grabbed the boy under his arms and tugged him back as hard as she could. Both she and the boy ended up stumbling backwards, slamming into the portrait of the Hart family.

The man grabbed the boy out of her arms quickly and squeezed him tightly. "What are you doing here, Demyx?" the man scolded his son in relief. "Never mind that now." He turned to Kairi, who was pushing herself off of the ground, her back against the picture. He opened his mouth to thank her, when his eyes widened in pure shock.

He wasn't the only one either. Quite a few of the people who were close enough stared with stunned expressions at the fact that the young woman in front of them, dressed up as much any princess would, including the former Queen Giselle's crown, stood beside the picture of young Princess Kairi. There was no doubt, in comparison, that this young woman was definitely the princess.

"Get him out of here," Kairi ordered the man as she moved away from the wall, tearing a part of her dress in the process. She moved to go help someone else when her eyes caught sight of another part of the palace through the window. It wasn't on fire, but there was definitely something going on there.

And she knew exactly who was there.

Changing directions, Kairi quickly sprinted away, forgetting all about the other people in her moment of selfishness, her crown tumbling off of her head and being left behind.

"_Where are they, boy?"_

The man whose son she had saved watched on with a stunned expression. If Sora had been there with her, he would have been able to tell Kairi that this particular man had been the one trying to hunt Kairi and her grandmother down ten years before. He had been the one to club Sora to unconsciousness, and in the end, he had been the one who had killed the youngest child, Prince Axel.

**VVVVVVVV**

Kairi ran passed the shattered glass, knowing she was heading in the right direction. She had no clue how she managed to run in such a complicated dress, and she didn't know how the heels she was wearing hadn't destroyed her feet yet. She supposed it was the adrenaline, but who knew?

Finally, she rushed around the corner to a large hallway, and saw him. Sora was there with his back to her, but he wasn't alone. There were several black creatures around him, slashing at him. He was doing a fairly decent job of dodging them, but at the same time, Kairi could see that the fallen ceiling had blocked off his only escape route.

One of the creatures jumped at him from behind, and she let out a scream. Working on what she assumed was adrenaline in its purest form, she managed to get over to him and slammed her heel into the back of the creature, causing it to fade away.

"Kairi?" he asked, slightly dazed. She didn't get to answer him though, as she was suddenly grabbed and dragged backwards with a scream.

Kairi groaned with pain as she was tossed to the floor, glass and splinters piercing her skin. Her charm (which she had been hiding in the folds of her dress for luck before the ball) tumbled across the floor loudly. She looked up and saw an odd looking, white creature standing above her, and recognized it as the same type of creature that had tried to yank her into the ocean on the ship. Her first reaction was to get away from it, but two more of them appeared and grabbed a hold of her, holding her down.

Sora tried to run over to her as the black creatures vanished, but several white creatures latched onto Sora, causing him to fall to the ground.

A deep chuckle suddenly sounded around the room and a second later Xemnas appeared a few feet away from Kairi.

"I was going to kill him first," Xemas muttered. "But I have a better idea." His darkened Keyblade appeared in his hands and he moved towards Kairi. "How many cuts do you think I can put in you before you start begging for death?"

Kairi liked to claim that she was a brave girl, but as he moved closer, she started to struggle. She could handle a lot of pain, but the thought of outright torture horrified her.

"Leave her alone!" Sora yelled at him as he struggled. Xemnas chuckled again and ignored him.

Xemnas held up his darkened Keyblade and ran the sharp edge along her cheek, causing her to whimper as the blood started running down her face. He managed to grin and said, "Beg for death, Princess."

"Go to hell," Kairi snapped back as she spat (in a rather unladylike way) at his feet. The forced smile vanished off of his face, and a split second later, he used the blade to cut her arm deeply.

"Stop it!" Sora yelled as he continued to try and struggle with the white things (Nobodies, as he would later find out) that were holding him down. He managed to get one arm free and looked around, seeing Kairi's charm a few feet away from him. He reached out quickly, trying to get a hold of it. If he could just get it, maybe he could use the pointed edge to harm these things somehow. It was a better idea than just using his hands. He could hear Kairi's screams of pain as the man kept hitting her over and over again, both with the sharp and blunt sides of the Keyblade.

Kairi was shivering in pain as she tried to get away from the thing that was causing her so much pain. She bravely looked up at the man in front of her though, refusing to give in to what he wanted. She stared into his cold, orange eyes and suddenly, the familiar sense of déjà vu passed over her.

"_I banish you, Ansem, with a curse. You and all of your family shall die."_

"_Xe—"_

"_Let me go!"_

"_Xehan—"_

"_I banish you, Ansem, with a curse. You and all of your family shall die."_

"Xehanort," Kairi snapped suddenly.

He paused for a second before saying, "That was my name once. My name is Xemnas now. There is no time for introductions, but rather, farewells. Do svidaniya, Princess." He raised the Keyblade high into the air and brought it down towards her head.

There was a sudden flash of light as she flinched and closed her eyes. Kairi braced herself for the pain that was sure to come, but instead, a loud clanging sound reached her ears.

Her eyes snapped over and she found herself staring at Xemnas' Keyblade, but a double-bladed, white object that vaguely resembled a key blocked it.

Xemnas was forced backwards and the weapon quickly destroyed the creatures holding on to her. The next thing Kairi knew, Sora was standing between her and Xemnas, holding the weapon towards the silver-haired man.

"I told you to leave her alone," Sora snapped at him. Kairi was still staring with surprise at the object in his hand, and she couldn't help but notice one face about it. The chain of the end of it was her musical charm.

**VVVVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

Yay! Done! You have no idea how much I was stuck on this.

So I'm fairly certain that this is completely different from the movie, but I'm trying to keep a tiny tiny bit of similarities. I know that Do svidaniya is Russian, and I made Radiant Garden English (you can tell, I mean the last name Hart should have implied that). I just really like that line. Do svidaniya means something along the lines of just 'goodbye' or something similar. If someone knows any Russian, they can correct me.

As always thanks to all the people who reviewed! AmethystFeather, Shire Folk, catharsis25, chasingfireflies, Topaz Tsubasa and DAN88. You guys rock. Imaginary cookies for all.

PS. Check out my oneshot, Fear. It's different from a lot of stuff I wrote before and I'd like some feedback on it.

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


	16. Shattered

**The Lost Princess**

_Chapter Fifteen – Shattered_

If anyone had asked Sora when he learned how to fight with a sword, he couldn't have told them. He was naturally a passive young man when it came to violence, only fighting when he needed to. That, combined with the fact that he had grown up as a servant, later an orphan with only his twin brother for company, he had never once learned how to properly fight with a sword.

Still, as Xemnas' dark blade met his light one, Sora moved with an expertise like none other. It was like the object in his hand was made just for him to allow him to fight, to destroy this monster that had caused so much trouble for everyone.

Sweat dripped down the side of Sora's face as he and Xemnas kept clashing with each other, each trying to disarm the other. Sora refused to let him win though. The only way he was going to stop fighting was if Xemnas stabbed him through the heart, and even then, he wasn't going down alone. As long as Kairi was safe, it would be worth it.

He didn't question how she had got to Radiant Garden, when her attire (before it was ripped and stained with blood) implied that she had been at the ball her grandmother had already been planning when he had left. He wished she wouldn't have come though. She was in danger here, but he had no doubt that this madman would find her no matter where she went. He had to stop him now.

Pain flashed through Sora's body as he was thrown backwards, crashing over the already broken tables and vases that had been in the hall for years.

He groaned in pain but as he heard Kairi's scream, he managed to push himself off of the ground. Taking a deep breath, he lunged at Xemnas again, forcing him away from Kairi.

"Run!" he yelled to her. "Go anywhere! Hurry!"

Kairi bit her lip and pushed herself off of the floor, staring at him with unsure eyes. When part of the wall beside her crashed down, revealing more of the black and white creatures, she quickly dodged out of the way as one of them jumped at her, and rushed down the hall. She skidded to a stop quickly though, when she noticed that another part of the wall had fallen in, blocking her path of escape. Without much thought, she quickly rushed into the room she was beside, slamming the door behind her. She let out a deep sigh and turned around to see if there was a place she could escape when she stopped in mid step.

The bed was covered in a thick layer of dust, as was the floor, and the toys that were in it were old, time slowly destroying them, but there was no mistaking this room.

It was hers.

Despite the danger she was currently in, Kairi couldn't help but walk to the center of the room and look around. Everywhere she turned, memories flashed over her face. She could see Ariel pouncing on her to wake her up, Axel shoving one of her doll's heads into his mouth as a baby, Larxene storming in to growl at her over something, and Aurora sitting with her telling her stories.

Kairi didn't realize she was crying until a tear fell off of her chin and hit her bare collarbone. She jumped as the door flew open, and turned around. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Sora slam the door shut, but she could hear the creatures clawing at the other side.

The Keyblade in Sora's hand started to glow, and a beam of light extended from it, hitting the door. Neither knew exactly what had happened, but Sora quickly assumed that the massive key had sealed the door. He also assumed that meant Xemnas could get in eventually.

Sora turned around to face Kairi, but before he could get a word out of his mouth, she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly while sobbing.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed out. "I—I didn't…I mean…I was stupid! I didn't even know you had left until Roxas and Naminé told me."

Sora hugged her back, letting Oathkeeper drop to the floor and pulled her even closer to him. "I'm so sorry Kairi, I truly am. I shouldn't have just left without you knowing. I shouldn't have run away."

She laughed a bit and said, "We both made mistakes, remember?"

Sora took a few steps back to look at her before speaking, but he didn't get the chance again. Kairi learned up (she didn't have that far to lean up in her heels, unlike before) and kissed him.

Sora kissed her back without hesitating for a moment before moving away just a bit and saying, "I'm a kitchen boy Kairi, and you're—"

Kairi kissed him again, and Sora didn't complain. They rocked back and forth in the embrace, quickly breaking apart when there was a loud crash at the door.

He quickly scanned the room before running over to the wall. Sora quickly shoved the wall and opened the door so quickly that Kairi didn't see how he had opened it.

Sora then moved back over to her and said, "You have to go."

"No," she said with panic. "No, I'm staying with you."

He shook his head and pushed her back towards the entrance, despite her struggling. He managed to get her through the door and saying, "Please, just get away from here. I'll try to stop him."

"Sora!" she yelled but he closed the wall. Kairi took a deep breath and glared at the door, growling at it because she didn't know how to actually open it. Who did Sora think he was? No, actually who did he think she was? She wasn't a wimp who needed to run away!

A determined look passed over Kairi's face. She quickly turned to run down the hidden passage. One of her glittering heels finally snapped, so she kicked both of them off, not caring about the splinters and dirt assaulting her feet. She would find a way out and circle around to help that idiot boy who would already be dead without her. She had no clue how to push open the wall doors, but she would work on that when she found one.

Luck was on her side though, because instead of finding another exit, she found a hole in the wall. She quickly climbed out of, tearing more of her dress, thankful now that it had so many lays to it.

Kairi ran into the hallway and froze mid-step. In front of her, a woman with almost orange shaded hair skidded to a halt, her horrified blue eyes staring straight in front of her as she cradled a small child to her. He was only little, and his spiky red hair seemed bigger than the head it was attached to. A girl, around twelve or so with bright red hair took a step back, shying behind the woman, and an older blonde, around the age of eighteen or so, stared in front of her with a dark look in her eyes.

Kairi took another step into the hallway, and she could see several soldiers appearing in front of the family. She let out a scream as the woman suddenly turned around, shielding the boy with her body.

Banging echoed in Kairi's ears as she closed her eyes for a moment, hoping the illusion would go away. When she opened them, it was still there though.

The woman lay on the floor, her red hair becoming darker with blood. The boy that she shielded looked horrified, but alive. The two girls lay on the floor, the younger one's eyes brimming with tears.

The older girl, Aurora, whispered, "Take Axel and run, Ariel."

"But—"

"Just do it," she muttered. "There's a servant's exit right behind you, push the wall and then slide it back shut when you get inside. Understand?"

"Yeah," Ariel whispered, tears streaking down her cheeks.

The men with the guns were coming closer to see if their targets were indeed dead. Aurora waited until they were close before she slid a dagger that was hidden in her coat to her hands. Then in a move that was entirely out of character, but still graceful, she managed to spring up, turn around, and stab the dagger into the closest man.

At the same time, Ariel jumped up and grabbed Axel from under their dead mother. With a grunt, she managed to get the wall open and slid it shut behind her before any of the soldiers even noticed her vanishing.

Kairi closed her eyes again as she heard another bang followed by a thump, and then everything went quiet. She slowly opened her eyes again, only to see that the hall was empty. Now that she knew where to look though, she could see the red carpet stained darker in some spots than others, and she now knew why.

Not being able to control herself, Kairi stumbled to the floor and retched at what she saw before leaning back and sobbing. She had just seen her mother die, and she had heard Aurora die as well.

Suddenly, the sorrow was replaced with disgust. Xemnas must have been doing this somehow. He was torturing her by not only attempting to take Sora's lives, but also by showing her exactly how she had lost the rest of her family.

Right then and there she decided that just getting rid of Xemnas wasn't good enough. She wanted him to suffer. She didn't care if it made her a horrible person, but she wanted him to hurt. She started rushing down the hall, and just as she turned the corner she ended up crashing into someone else.

Riku grabbed her arm and kept her steady, making sure that she didn't fall to the ground. "There you are!" He said while eyeing all of her wounds. "What in god's name happened to you?"

"Xehanort—Xemnas…whatever, he's with Sora! Sora pushed me out of the room, but I can't leave him. He's fighting Xemnas!"

"Fighting him? With what?"

"The same thing that bastard's been using all along."

"A Keyblade?" Riku asked with genuine surprise. "Sora's using that dark weapon?"

"No," Kairi said with a pause. "No, it's pure white and doesn't feel evil. There's no time to talk now." She pushed passed Riku and started running down the hall. Instead of arguing with her this time though, he silently ran after her.

**VVVVVV**

Kairi, Sora decided, was one of the most stubborn girls he had ever met in his life. As he and Xemas fought each other, trading rapid blows, the door was thrown open and she came back in.

If they both survived this, Sora was sure that he was going to go grey early on because of her.

Distracted by Kairi's sudden appearance, Xemnas manages to slash at Sora's arm, and when he was distracted with the pain, he kicked Sora to the ground. Winded, Sora coughed at he tried to sit up, the throbbing pain in his chest getting worse. He could hear Kairi scream as Xemnas stabbed the Dark Keyblade towards him, but he felt paralyzed as he awaited his death.

Only, it didn't come. It was like the very air in front of Sora changed and became solid as the blade could not penetrate it. Xemnas looked around, furious as he yelled, "Riku! What is the meaning of this?"

"I'm doing the right thing." Sora recognized him as the boy that tried to warn him from going back to Radiant Garden. In retrospect, he now knew that he should have listened.

In a very impressive display, Riku seemed to be manipulating the very atoms around him as he made a dark fire appear in his own hands, and a blade, like a sword shaped from a wing, appear in his hand. He lunged at Xemnas, giving Sora a chance to get up.

He limped over to Kairi and growled, "What are you doing? I told you to run!"

"I'm not leaving without you," she snapped. Sora was about to say something else, but she shut him up by yanking at his shirt and brining her lips to meet his for a moment. She pulled away quickly and said, "So stop being stubborn."

Sora blink with surprise before saying, "Are you stupid? You're in danger here!"

"So are you!"

"Why can't you just—"

"No! Why can you just see that I'm not going to leave you here to die because I love you?!"

If he seemed surprised before it was nothing compared to now. He opened his mouth to say something, but then his eyes focused on something behind her. Sora grabbed her quickly and moved out of the way, causing her to scream as one of the creatures missed them by an inch.

More of the creatures started to appear around them as Sora backed Kairi into a corner, her hands tightly gripping the back of his shirt. He held out the Keyblade in front of him, ready to hit anything that moved towards them.

Kairi eyed them for a moment before turning her attention to where Riku and Xemnas were fighting each other wildly. Riku was fast, and a strong fighter, but even Kairi could tell that he was starting to slow down. Xemnas was just too strong for any of them individually.

"Help Riku," Kairi demanded quickly. "If you can defeat him, I bet these things will go away."

"But you—"

"I'm not the delicate little Princess I might have grown up to be, Sora," she said firmly. "I'll be okay."

Sora stared at her for a moment before nodded his head and quickly slashing through the approaching creatures. He blocked one of Xemnas' strikes and Riku used the man's slight surprise to his advantage by lunging at her.

They were moving so fast that Kairi could barely see them. She quickly turned her attention to the creature that was about to jump at her. She grabbed a piece of polished by broken wood that had come from her bedside table, and used it to hit away each creature. Although she didn't have some sort of fancy weapon like the two young men in the room, she was still quite proud will how well she was doing.

"Why won't you just die?" Sora growled at Xemnas as the fight continued. Riku could see that Sora's attention was torn between fighting Xemnas and making sure that Kairi was alright, and he could also tell that Xemnas could see this as well.

"It's the same question I keep wondering about her," the man muttered before twisting around and kicking Sora in the chest again. The brunet stumbled back into Riku, and both of them went flying to the floor.

Sora groaned, not believing that the same trick had caught him again.

A loud crash cause Sora to look around quickly, and he was sure he felt his heart stop. Kairi had tackled Xemnas, bare feet and all, breaking the large window with his body. The two of them were right beside the window, struggling, and before Sora could get up, they both rolled out.

"Kairi!" he yelled and shot towards the window. He looked over the edge and he knew his heart was pounding in his ears with relief. Kairi had managed to grab a hold of a ledge only a few feet down. It wasn't sheer luck; she actually remembered it was there because Larxene used to climb out of her window all the time to go visit Marluxia.

She looked down and watched as Xemnas got back to his feet. She looked up at Sora as he called her name again, carefully stepping over the ledge of broken glass, looking for a way to pull her back.

Suddenly, a horrified look appeared on his face. She looked back down just in time to see the dark Keyblade flying up in her direction and everything after that happened so fast that she didn't know what exactly _had_ happened. Before the blade could hit Kairi, Sora moved faster than she had ever seen him do before and skidded down the side of the wall, his Keyblade leaving a deep, long gash in the side of it.

She wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but the next thing she knew, she felt Sora's body pressed against her own, his grip on the Keyblade (which was impaled into the wall) keeping them up. Then she let out a scream when she felt herself fall the rest of the way.

Kairi groaned as she hit the ground, but she wasn't injured too badly. She shook her head, confusion passing over her for a moment until she realized she was lying on top of someone.

She couldn't even summon another scream when she realized that not only had Sora acted as cushioning to stop her from being hurt as they fell, he had also used his own body as a shield when Xemnas threw the dark Keyblade at her.

She pushed herself up to look at Sora, and panic rushed through her when she saw how pale he was and how the snow was rapidly turning a dark shade of red.

"Sora?" she breathed out as grabbed his wrist to check for a pulse, but her hands were far too shaky to actually tell if he was alive or not. She leaned her head against his chest but her panic and her pounding headache stopped her from hearing if his heart was still beating.

What she did hear was a deep chuckle. Her head shot up as Xemnas took a few more steps towards her, but she could see that something was odd about him. There were small tentacles of darkness starting to radiate off of him, and she knew then and there what was happening.

Without a second though about what she was doing, she lunged at him. He vanished quickly, appearing again in the distance. With a growl, Kairi chased after him, ignoring the pain that the ice-cold snow inflicted on her feet. He vanished again, this time appearing on a bridge in the distance.

She ignored Riku's distant cries for her to come back as she gave chase to the monster that had destroyed her family. He didn't vanish this time though. Instead, he stayed in the center of the bridge, eyeing her as a predator would its prey.

"Do you recognize this place, Princess?" he spat as he pointed over the edge of the bridge. "That is where you destroyed my Heartless. As much as I would have loved to show you how your father was gunned down, and how Ariel and Axel were clubbed to death, I think it's more appropriate to end things here."

Tears of rage spilled down Kairi's cheeks as Xemnas' dark Keyblade appeared in his hand again. He took a step towards her, but the next thing that happened shocked him, even when he couldn't feel anything to begin with.

With a flash of light, the Keyblade that Sora had been using appeared in her hand. With amazing precision, and without a second thought, she threw it at him.

The part of her that craved revenge smirked with pleasure when she heard his yell of pain as the Keyblade penetrated the empty cavity where his heart should have been. He had been so shocked by the sudden appearance of Oathkeeper and the quickness of her actions that he hadn't been able to block the weapon. He dropped his Keyblade with a loud clank.

Xemnas stumbled to the ground, and the Keyblade vanished from his chest, appearing once again in Kairi's hand. He reached towards his own darkened weapon, but Kairi quickly stepped on it with her bare foot, pulling it away from him. She raised Oathkeeper into the air and said, "This is for Sora!" She slammed it down onto the dark counterpart, causing it to start to crack. Xemnas let out a cry of pain as she brought Oathkeeper back into the air and said, "This is for my family!" She smashed it down again, moving away from him again as he struggled to get the Keyblade away from him. "And this, this is for you! Do svidaniya!" White metal met black as the darkened Keyblade shattered, followed by a painful scream from Xemnas.

Kairi quickly threw herself to the floor of the bridge as a blast of dark energy surrounded her. She shielded her head and waited until the cold air stopped, looking back to where Xemnas had been. There was nothing left but what looked like scorched snow and stone.

She breathed heavily and quickly jumped to her feet, rushing back to where she had left Sora.

Panic once again flashed through her as she saw Riku bending over Sora. As she got closer, she could tell Riku was checking to see if he was breathing or had a pulse.

She fell to her knees behind him, letting out a small sob and leaning her head onto his chest. A soft, constantly thumping sound filled her ear, and relief passed through Kairi's entire body. His heart was beating. He was alive.

"You'll be okay," Kairi whispered to him. "We'll get help. I promise. You'll be ok. Riku! Go get help! Please, he's hurt really bad." Tears streaked down her cheeks and she tried to wipe them away, but ended up smearing her cheek with a bit of Sora's warm blood.

"Actually," Riku said slowly as he placed his hand on Sora's chest again. "This is the only form of light magic that I ever learned, and I'm glad I did. Maybe this is a start to making up for everything that's happened, even if it's only a bit. Curaga."

A glowing, green circle appeared around them, and Kairi watched with fascination as, not only were Sora's major wounds closing, but the gashes that Riku had on him and the open wounds she had (including all the splinters in her arms, hands and feet) were fading away.

Sora let out a groan and his eyes opened just a crack. Kairi laughed and threw her arms around him, catching him off guard as he hugged her back hazily, winded from where she fell onto him. He looked up at Riku, who just smirked a bit before turning away from them to give them a moment.

Kairi helped Sora up and whispered, "You're okay."

"I know, I know," he muttered. He shook his head and managed to open up his eyes a little more. "All men are babies."

"Yeah, you all are," she muttered and leaned in to kiss him, when a small cough interrupted her.

Both of them turned to the source of the noise, and Kairi recognized the little boy she had saved earlier. There were a few people hanging farther away from him, watching on with something akin to awe on their faces as the small boy approached.

"Here," Demyx said and held out his hands. In his hands was her crown, no; her mother's grown, glittering even in the dim light.

Sora managed to sit up a little more so that she could free her arms. She took it from him, staring at it curiously before looking back at the boy and saying, "Thank you." The little boy smiled and quickly rushed back to his father, who had a look of guilt upon his features that would never fade away.

Kairi turned to Sora again when she heard him sigh. He smiled sadly at her and said, "They're waiting for you, Kairi."

She looked down at the crown before looking up at him and saying, "I can't be the Princess of this place. We both know that. If I ever tried to rule again, I would be killed just as quickly as the rest of my family was. I think I can live without being a spoiled, pampered princess though."

Sora stared at her with a bit of a stunned look until she said, "Now would be a great time to stop being dumb and tell me something you've always wanted to."

He laughed and bit and pulled her close to him. "I love you, Kairi." He then leaned down and kissed her quickly before hugging her tightly, burying his face in her hair.

Kairi let the crown fall from her hands as she wrapped her arms around him and hid her face in the crook of neck. The crown rolled down the slope of snow, stopping at Riku's feet. He picked up it up and stared at it before grinning a bit.

He knew exactly how he could help them, at least one last time.

**VVVVVV**

**Author's Note**

I'm going to kill this chapter. I swear I will. Just…print it out and tear it up. Put it threw a shredder, chew it, spit it out, roll it in the mud, try to shred it again then burn it so that no one will find it's remains…

Wait…that was what I planned to do with my copy of the epilogue from the Harry Potter books. Damnit, I need a new idea.

This is literally the fifth time I've rewritten it. I'm not even lying. FIFTH! NOTHING SEEMS DRAMATIC ENOUGH!

Also, nobody probably noticed, but I was making Kairi always initiate the kisses on purpose. Implies that Sora was very hesitant before, but he's not now.

Thank you to all my great reviewers! Shire Folk, Trainalf, Topaz Tsubasa, rockinthisworld, catharsis25, Stargazer-Aika, chasingfireflies,wow and Chiio-chan!

Just one more to go! As always, I never leave author's notes in my last chapters. So just so everyone knows, I really appreciate the feedback and I'm glad so many people enjoyed this!

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


	17. Epilogue

**The Lost Princess**

_Epilogue_

Roxas walked just behind Naminé down the tastefully decorated hallway. He held Goofy in his arms, not wanting the troublesome little dog to ruin any of the former Queen's finer things, or go terrify Donald the duck. Curiosity was the main emotion that dominated his mind at the moment. The Queen had called Naminé and insisted that she and Roxas come over as quickly as possible.

He knew this most likely had something to do with Kairi's absence from the ball last night. Many people had whispered about it, but never once had the former Queen seemed worried. In fact, she almost seemed happy that Kairi never made an appearance.

Naminé knocked on the door in front of them, bringing Roxas out of thoughts. Goofy barked a bit as the Queen's voice echoed from inside the room. Leading the way, Naminé opened the door and motioned for Roxas to enter before closing it behind them.

The woman stood away from them, facing the window with her hands holding something in front of her. She stood still for a moment before turning around and facing the two, and Roxas could clearly make out that the thing in her hands was a letter.

"The things that have happened in the past, haven't always added up," the old woman said. "And sometimes still, things happen that we can't explain."

"You're majesty?" Roxas asked curiously after a moment of silence.

"It would seem that, somehow, my granddaughter got to Radiant Garden last night. How, I will not claim to know, and how this letter got back here is too a mystery. I know she is alright though. I can feel it."

"What does the letter say?" Naminé asked.

Lareen smiled warmly before looking down at the letter and reading it aloud.

_Dear Grandma, _

_Our destinies will always be intertwined on Destiny Islands, and I'll be home soon. Sora and I are going to take the long way back. Don't worry about how I got to Radiant Garden, just know that everything is alright. _

_Do me one favor please? Let Roxas and Namine know we're both okay, and that we'll be home soon. Oh, and make sure they take care of Goofy!_

_Until then, all my love,_

_Kairi _

Naminé was stunned for a second before cooing and saying, "They eloped. How romantic is that?"

"What? I didn't hear anything about that in there," Roxas said quickly while looking over the letter as the former Queen handed it to him.

"It's what she didn't write, Roxas," Naminé replied.

The former Queen smiled at them and placed the note beside the glittering crown that had been returned with it. Nodding to herself as she listened to Naminé and Roxas talk behind her, with Goofy happily yipping along with them, she knew that her granddaughter had made the right choice.

Perhaps, just once, a kitchen boy could marry a princess.

**VVVVVVVV**

Riku sighed as he leaned against the roof, looking up at the darkening sky. He didn't really know what to do with himself now that he was free.

A small smile appeared on his lips at the thought. He was free, wasn't he? Even when Xehanort was gone, and before he had met Xemnas, he had always felt this pressure and urge to protect the dark Keyblade. Looking back, he realized it was probably a spell of some sort that Xehanort had used on him to make him completely loyal.

If that was true, he wasn't quite sure why it would have worn off, but he was thankful it did. He knew that, if he had been part of Princess Kairi's death, or even Sora's death, he would have felt horrible for the rest of his life.

Now, the question was what to do. Sora and Kairi made it clear to him that he was welcomed on Destiny Islands, and in the future it was possible that he might take them up on that offer, but for now he wanted to figure out what he wanted to do. That, and he was sure that they needed to be alone for a while. A nice, quiet, trip back to Destiny Islands was what they needed.

Although, now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure if anything would be quiet with them. They had received many odd stares from people because of Kairi's ruined, but somehow still beautiful dress, and because of Sora's blood stained clothes. This wasn't the main reason people stared at them oddly. They had been arguing rather loudly about getting on the train or the boat, because neither of them wanted to do either.

One woman had told them that there were cruises heading out to Twilight Town, and from there, Destiny Islands, that specialized in getaways. Knowing that there was a more comfortable option than a big steamer seemed to appease Kairi, and if she was happy, Sora was happy.

Riku remembered how Kairi had come up to him after talking to Sora for a few, quiet minutes. She said that they were going to return to Destiny Islands on the ship. She then asked Riku if there was a preacher or someone who could wed them then and there.

He had been stunned by this, but he led them to the one place he knew to go. It was difficult to find men who would marry couples at a short notice, but they did it. The man's employee had acted as the second witness.

Riku had waved them off, wishing them all the luck, and promising not to be a stranger.

Now, he wasn't quite sure what to do.

He sighed and jumped off of the roof. Originally, he thought no one else was there, but a startled scream proved that theory to be untrue.

He looked around and saw a girl with short black hair staring at him with wide, blue eyes. She looked up at the roof before looking back at him and saying, "You stuck that landing pretty well."

And he laughed. It was the first time in a long time that he had done so, and it felt great.

"My name's Riku," he said to her happily.

She smiled a bit and said, "My name's Xion."

Xion, now why did that name sound so familiar? Riku shrugged that thought off and said, "What brings you to a dark ally, Xion?"

"I'm trying to find a necklace I lost," she explained. "It belonged to my sister, and I feel horrible about losing it."

"I'll help you," he offered. "I take it that the necklace is really important to you?"

"Thank you so much! And yeah, my sister died in a car crash when I was little."

Again, he stared at her oddly, knowing that something was ringing a bell in his head. He shrugged it off once again and went to work helping Xion find her sister's necklace.

**VVVVVVVV**

Kairi hummed a bit as she snuggled into Sora's side. They sat on the deck of the cruise ship, one much nicer than the ones they had taken from Twilight Town to Destiny Islands. Of course, proving that you're a Princess had its benefits, because even if she didn't have money on her, they knew they would get paid well by the former Queen. That and any ship that didn't sink seemed to work out fine for them.

She let out a giggle when she felt Sora's hand tickle her side, and said, "Remember the last time we were on a ship?"

"And you almost drowned yourself?" he asked doubtfully. "And then how the entire ship was attacked and sunk?"

She smacked him lightly on the arm and said, "No, you big dope. Although, you were quite the hero when you got me to wake up." She shot him a playful look as she flicked his spiky bangs. "I was referring to when Roxas wanted you to show me how to dance."

"Mmm hmm," Sora hummed. "What about it?"

Kairi stood up in front of him and motioned for him to do the same. She quickly positioned his hands in the right spots, and they started dancing without any music.

Sora laughed as they moved in circles and asked, "Why do you want to dance so badly?" He avoided stepping on her toes, since she was only wearing a thin pair of shoes that a nice woman had given her earlier.

"Well, I left before the first ball I can really recall," she replied with a grin. "I'm glad I did, don't doubt that for a second, but still, I like to dance. Besides." She gave him a rather impish grin. "It's it tradition for a new husband and wife to dance together."

Sora pulled her close and said, "Yes, but both of us actually suck at dancing."

She giggled and said, "I can still like it even if I'm bad at it."

He grinned slyly and said, "There are also other traditions that go along with a wedding night?"

Kairi laughed and said, "Well we'll have to see about that, now won't we, Mr. Sora?"

"Yes we will, Kari."

She shot him a curious look at the use of the name that she had gone by for years. Sora grinned at her and said, "I think it's a good nickname."

"Hmm, I like it," she muttered as they continued to dance. "Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you," Kairi said as she moved closer to him, if that was possible.

"I love you too," Sora replied softly as he closed the distance between them in a deep kiss.

**The End**

_**Krystal Lily Potter**_


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